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Sylrwter  Brown,  lumberman,  Rocbestor,  >*.  T.— Frontiepie'^. 


AN  APPEAL 


TO  THX 


INHABITANTS  OF  HER  MAJESTY'S  CANADIAN  PROVINCES         ^ 


AOAINST  THB  LAW  AUTHOBIUKO 


IMPRISONMENT    FOR   DEBT   IN   CANADA   WEST; 

IN  wmoH  18  imbodud 
A   HISTORY    OF    THB 

SUFFERINGS  AND  WRONGS  OF  MR.  SYLVESTER  BROWN, 

A  PRISONER  rOR  EIOBTBEN  MONTHS  IN  THE  JAIL  AT  CHATHAM  ; 

TOORHIR  WITH  A  TVVL  IS?08inON  OF 

IHB  BASOALITY  PBAGTISED  BY  SOULLESS  CBEDITOBS,  CBAITT  LAWYBBSt 

PLUNBEBINQ  SHfiBIFFS,  HBABTLESS  BAILIFFS,  BBUTAL  JAILOBS 

AND  lUBNKEYS,  AND  GOUTY  JUDGES; 

TO  WmOB  ARl  ADDED 

FULL  AND  COMPLETE  DETAILS  OP  OTHER  CASES 

IN  wmoH 


POOR,  BUT  HONEST  AND  INDUSTRIOUS  PEOPLE,  HATE   BEEN  STRIPPED  OF 
THEIR  ALL  BY  THB   OPERATION  OF  AN  INIQUITOUS  LAW; 

^  AND  ALSO 

COPIOUS  QUOTATIONS  FBOM  THE  ACT  FALSELY  ENTITLED,  "THE  AOT  FOB 
THE  ABOLITION  OF  IMPBISONMENT  FOB  DEBT.'* 


rt) 


BY 


SYLVESTER   BROWN, 

BOCHESTEB,   N.  Y., 
A  LVMBEBMAN  rOB  THIBTT-TBSSI  TIARS. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  TWEi«TY-FIVE  BEAUTIFUL  ENGRAVINGS. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 
1859. 


. 
I, 


\ 


Xntond,  aooording  to  A«t  of  OongNM,  In  fht  jux  1860,  hy 
BTLYX8TBB  BBOWN, 

te  th«  Olwk'f  OflO0  of  the  IMstrlot  Court  of  the  UnltoA  BtatM  Ibr  the  Northmn  DIf trM 

of  Now  York. 


■5^ 


'V 


PREFACE. 


MTU  Blftrkl 


>i% 


Ibifbisonmimt  for  debt  has  been  aboliabed  in  nearly  every 
State  of  the  Union;  and  where  the  law  still  remains  upon  the 
statute-books  of  any,  it  is  praotically  a  dead  letter — public  opi- 
nion having  decided  that  it  was  ever  a  measure  of  questionable 
utility,  and  susceptible,  in  the  majority  of  oases,  of  being  per- 
verted into  a  most  atrocious  tyranny,  totally  at  variance  with  the 
spirit  and  intention  of  free,  liberal,  and  enlightened  institutions. 
In  the  Ganadas,  however,  a  people  almost  identical  in  habits, 
manners,  language,  and  lineage  with  the  population  of  the  United 
States,  still  remain  burdened  with  a  system  which  has  no  affinity 
with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  present  century—- a  system 
alike  degrading  to  humanity  and  revolting  to  the  feelings  of 
every  high-minded  and  upright  individual  in  the  community — a 
system  which,  unjust,  illiberal,  and  inhuman  in  its  very  incep- 
tion, cannot  furnish  a  single  plea  to  be  urged  for  its  longer  con- 
tinuance. 


The  object  of  the  author  of  this  pamphlet  (Mr.  Sylvester 

Brown,  a  native  of  Blandford,  Massachusetts,  and  late  of  Bo- 
•51 -^OG  '         (8) 


PBIFAOK. 


Chester,  New  York)  b  to  fhrnish  the  citisens  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  Canada  West,  with  a  brief  account  of  his  unjust 
and  malicious  imprisonment  for  debt  in  a  Canada  jail ;  and,  like- 
wise,  to  warn  the  business  public  against  the  dangers  which  sur- 
round them  while  transacting  business  in  Canada  West,  where 
deception  and  intrigue  are  practised  continually,  not  only  upon 
non-residents,  but  also  by  tho  residents  upon  each  other.  Having 
been  extensiyely  engaged  for  many  years  in  the  United  States, 
and  during  the  last  ten  years  principally  in  Canada  West,  in  the 
sale  of  lumber  and  goods,  and  as  it  has  become  generally  known 
that  I  was  confined  for  nearly  eighteen  months  in  a  noisome  Ca- 
nadian prison,  I  purpose  to  relate  all  the  facts  of  the  case  for  the 
information  of  my  numerous  friends  and  acquaintance  —  more 
especially  of  those  with  whom  I  formerly  dealt.  In  so  doing,  I 
shall  expose  and  refute  many  slanderous  tales  which  have  been 
circulated  concerning  me,  much  to  the  detriment  of  my  character 
and  the  annoyance  of  my  friends. 

Urged  to  make  this  exposition  by  my  business  friends,  and  by 
many  citizens  of  Canada  West,  who  have  suffered  under  the  ope- 
ration of  this  brutal  system,  I  will  endeavor,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  to  exhibit  the  injustice  of  the  law ;  the  way  in  which  it 
is  used  by  selfish  men  as  a  8coui;ge  to  torture  all  who  are  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  fall  under  its  ban ;  the  manner  in  which  the  law- 
yers prey  upon  those  in  confinement ;  and,  in  general,  the  charac- 
ter, customs,  and  practices  of  the  people  of  Canada.  Where 
words  fail  to  express  my  purpose,  life-like  illustrations  will  por- 
tray the  true  state  of  affairs  in  these  loyal  provinces  of  her  most 
gracious  Majesty,  "  Victoria,  Queen  of  Great  Britain.'' 


PRBFAOI.  0 

The  hopo  is  oherished  that,  when  the  facte  here  let  fbrth  he- 
come  generally  known,  by  the  liberal  circulation  of  thia  pamphletf 
the  eyes  of  the  people  may  be  opened,  and  they  may  be  incited 
to  require  from  candidates  for  election  to  the  Lower  House  of 
Parliament  a  pledge  to  procure  the  repeal  of  this  law,  which  now 
operates  so  much  to  their  oppression.  Mere  promises  should  not 
be  considered-sufficient — a  pledge  of  the  most  binding  character 
should  be  required ;  and  even  then,  only  those  should  receive 
the  popular  su£frage  whose  previous  lives  are  guaranties  that  they 
will  faithfully  perform  every  part  of  their  engagement.  By  this 
course,  peace,  comfort,  and  a  feeling  of  security  will  again  be 
restored  to  many  a  homestead,  and  enterprising  citisens  of  the 
Union,  whom  the  Canadians  are  desirous  of  having  among  them, 
will  feel  that,  in  crossing  the  boundary,  they  do  not  risk  their 
liberty— -mayhap  their  lives.  At  present,  no  man  is  assured  of 
safety  for  his  person,  while  dealing  with  a  people  whose  laws 
hold  out  every  inducement  for  a  vicious,  intolerant,  and  grasping 
creditor  to  persecute  those  who,  by  the  chances  of  trade,  may 
become  his  debtors  in  the  sum  of  a  few  dollars,  which  they  re- 
quire only  time  and  liberty  to  enable  them  to  repay.  Has  one 
individual  an  antipathy  against  another,  for  any  cause  whatever— 
this  infamous  law  furnishes  him  with  the  means  of  gratifying  his 
malice,  and  of  pui^ishing  his  real  or  supposed  enemy ;  for,  ad- 
mitting that  he  owes  him  nothing  in  a  pecuniary  way,  yet  he 
may  be  the  debtor  of  others,  from  whom  the  debt  may  be  pur- 
chased, and  the  means  of  exercising  a  tyrannical  power  thus  se- 
cured. 

1* 


6 


PRErAOE. 


Embodied  in  this  pamphlet  will  be  found  acoonnts  of  long  im- 
prisonments for  debt;  and  the  causes  thereof;  statements  of  the 
sufferings  of  women  and  children  athome  while  the  husbands 
and  fathers  lay  in  prison ;  of  the  incarceration  of  mothers  who 
had  young  children,  which  they  were  compelled  to  take  with 
them  into  their  confinement;  or  leave  without  protection  outside 
the  walls;  and  of  the  sharp  practice  upon  the  colored  popula- 
tion  (called  by  the  Canadians  the  Queen's  pets).  In  addition^ 
there  will  be  found  many  interesting  and  humorous  illustrations 
of  the '' codfish '' aristocracy  of  the  provinces. 


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Introduction m Paob  11 

Short  Autobiography 12 

Operation  of  the  Law »...  18 

Usual  mode  of  arresting  Debtors » 14 

Courts  of  Judicature  —  Practices  of  Creditors 14 

The  Law  an  Incentive  to  the  commission  of  Crime 16 

Why  Canada  does  not  tlirive 16 

Blackguard  Lawyers  and  craf<7  Merchants 17 

Conduct  of  Canadians  toward  Citizens  of  the  States 17 

Advice  to  Citizens  of  the  States 18 

Representatives  of  the  right  stamp 19 

The  Canadas  a  Fertile  Region 19 

Non-intercourse  with  Canada  until  the  Laws  are  changed 20 

The  imprisonment  of  the  Author. 20 

Robert  J.  M'lntyre 21 

D.  R.  Van  Allen 23 

Henry  M.  Marsh 24 

M'Eeller  and  Dolson 25 

jgypocritical  Professions 25 

Other  Creditors 26 

The  Commercial  Bank  of  Canada 26 

The  manner  of  my  Arrest 27 

A  Canadian  Jail 29 

A  Canadian  Jailor 80 

Canadian  Truthfulness  and  Honor 81 

Perjury  most  foul 84 

A  paradox — an  Honorable  who  is  dishonorable,  as  is  also  his  Partner.  85 

Mr.  M'Lean 40 

Mr.  George  Raymond 40 

Further  about  Henry  M.  Marsh 41 

Offers  made  to  my  Creditors  —  how  received 42 

M'lntyre's  Folly 46 

M'Intyre's  Consultation  with  a  Gipsy 46 


(7) 


8 


CONTENTS. 


Falsity  of  the  reported  abolition  of  Imprisonment  for  Debt.... 47 

The  new  Law  compared  with  the  old 48 

Thomas  Welch,  a  room-mate  in  Jail 66 

Board  of  imprisoned  Debtors — how  paid 66 

John  Hildreth —  a  case  of  legalized  starvation 67 

More  about  Canadian  Jails 61 

Tantalizing  actions  of  the  Jailor 66 

Sheriff  Mercer's  ungentlemanly  Conduct 66 

<* Grampus"  and  his  Turnkey 66 

Nuisances  connected  with  the  Chatham  Jail,  and  consequent  Sickness 

of  the  Prisoners,  etc 72 

First  Impressions  of  Prison  Fare  76 

Official  Imposition 77 

English  Brutes  and  French  Gentlemen 78 

What  constitutes  Dishonesty 79 

General  Character  of  Imprisoned  Debtors 80 

Dishonesty  versus  Honesty ^ 80 

Boors  always  repay  Kindness  with  Abuse 82 

Brutal  treatment  of  an  Insane  Woman 83 

The  Diyision  Court :. 86 

Mendacity  of  the  Lawyers 88 

<<  Grampus  "  robs  a  Letter  belonging  to  John  Findlay,  a  Prisoner  in 

the  Jail 89 

Another  attempt  to  Bob  a  Widow's  Son 90 

A  Sheriff  seizing  a  Lady's  Bed 92 

A  Sheriff  seizing  the  Dishes  and  Victuals  on  the  Family  Table 94 

Another  case  of  official  Vandalism 96 

Official  Sacrifice  of  Property 96 

Beverence  of  Canadian  officials  for  the  Bible * 96 

A  Debtor  prevented  from  seeing  the  Body  of  his  own  Daughter,  who 

was  Burned  to  Death 98 

A  Lady  and  her  three  Children  imprisoned  for  Debt — characteristic  ^ 

Inhumanity  of  an  Englishman 99 

The  Proprietor  of  the  Royal  Exchange  Hotel,  Chatham 101 

Different  Classes  of  English  in  Canada 104 

Mean  and  contemptible  action  of  a  member  of  the  English  '<  Codfish 

Aristocracy  " 106 

The  "  Stocks  " 109 

Division  Court  Cases  —  No.  1 110 

Division  Court  Cases  —  Nos.  2  and  8 Ill 

Novel  mode  of  seizing  a  stove 113 

How  Agriculture  is  encouraged  in  Canada 114 

Swindling  operation 116 

Out  of  Jail  and  in  JaU 116 

Female  Paul  Prys 1 V 


i 


CONTENTS.  9 

'r 

An  importanate  Lady  Collector  of  Debts 117 

A  case  in  which  the  Canadian  Laws  proved  an  Incentiye  to  the  com- 
mission of  Crime 118 

Shameful  Conspiracy  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  Wife  and  Property 120 

Judicial  Ii\justice 122 

Effect  of  Canadian  Whiskey  on  a  Canadian  Judge 128 

A  Negro,  Seventy  Years  of  age,  Bobbed  of  his  Property 124 

How  the  Negroes  are  treated  in  Chatham 126 

Female  Inebriety  in  Canada 1 126 

Persecution  of  a  Methodist  Minister 127 

Chancery  Costs 127 

Base  Deception  practised  by  Lawyers 128 

Medical  Inhumanity 128 

The  '< Honorable  M'Eeller"  proposes  selling  the  Chatham  Negroes..  129 
Occupations  and  general  Character  of  the  Negroes  of  Chatham,  Ca- 
nada West  181 

Cruelty  of  <* Grampus"  to  a  poor  Frenchman • 182 

English  Gratitude 188 

Division  Court  Cases  — No.  10 184 

Property  Exempt  from  Execution  in  Wisconsin 185 

Conclusion  —  How  I    obtained   my  Discharge — Very   interesting 

DetaUs > 186 


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06 
09 
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11 
13 
14 
15 
16 


|U»sttati0ns* 


Sylvester  Brown,  as  he  appeared  in  Prison 1st  paoi  or  Covxs. 

Inside  Ground-plan  of  the  Jail  in  Chatham.. 8d  paoi  or  Covbb. 

Eastern  View  of  Court-house  and  Jail,  Chatham ....  4th  paqk  or  Coyer. 

Sylvester  Brown  in  Citizen's  Dress «.  Frontisfieoe. 

Walter  M'Crea,  a  pettifogging  Lawyer  of  Chatham Page    28 

The  Chatham  Jailor,  Payne,  alias  <*  Qrampus  " 80 

« Grampus"  threatening  to  Shoot  John  Hildreth,  an  imprisoned 

Debtor..... 58 

Sylvester  Brown  on  a  Couch,  in  his  Prison-cell,  sick  with  Fever  and 
Ague,  turns  with  loathing  from  the  unwholesome  "  Sheep- 
meat"  offered  him  as  Food .„ 64 

Payne  examining  the  Bars 70 

Mr.  Brown  conversing  with  a  Visitor  through  the  Iron  Door 72 

Hillman,  the  Turnkey,  striking  an  Insane  Woman 85 

A  Sheriff  driving  a  poor  Laborer,  Sixty  Years  of  age,  to  Toronto 

Jail,  a  distance  of  Thirty-five  Miles 87 

Sheriff  robbing  a  Lady  of  her  Bed 93 

Sheriff  taking  the  Dishes  and  Victuals  from  a  Family  while  at  their 

Dinner 95 

Bailiff  seizing  Dodge's  Bible 97 

House  on  Fire,  and  Family  perishing  in  the  Flames 98 

Joseph  Pritchard,  Proprietor  of  the  Royal  Exchange  Hotel,  Chatham.  102 
An  Englishman,  after  pulling  off  the  Shoes  of  a  borrowed  Horse, 

driving  him  back  to  his  Owner 108 

Englishman  in  the  Stocks* 109 

A  Sheriff  throwing  Water  on  a  Stove,  which  he  is  about  to  seize 

for  Debt ., 113 

A  Farmer  arrested,  and  his  Horses  seized  for  Debt 114 

Moses  Stewart  coming  home  with  the  stolen  Sheep 119 

Johnson  arrested  on  his  way  home  with  a  Lamb 121 

Honorable  M'Eeller  selling  the  Chatham  Negroes 130 

Brother  Jonathan  sending  across  the  river  for  Sylvester  Brown, 

after  his  Discharge • •« # 143 

(10) 


V^ 


1 
c 

I 

I 
a 

g 


Vi 


^  AN  APPEAL 


AQAINST  THH  LAV  AUTHOBIZIHO 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


IN  CANADA  WEST. 


64 
70 
72 
85 

87 
93 

95 

97 

98 

102 

108 
109 

113 
114 
119 
121 
180 

143 


Imprisonment  for  debt  is  an  institution  belonging  to  a  past 
agO;  and  a  less  civilized  period,  when  whipping-posts,  stocks,  pil- 
lories, and  thumb-screws  were  deemed  humane  modes  of  punish- 
ment, and  the  burning  of  men  at  the  stake  for  opinion's  sake, 
the  most  approved  method  of  evincing  love,  veneration,  and  re- 
spect for  the  Christian  religion.  Before  the  advance  of  know- 
ledge, however,  most  of  these  barbarous  practices  have  fallen 
into  disuse,  with  the  single  ezceptipn  of  imprisonment  for  debt; 
which  still  lingers,  like  a  smouldering  ember — the  lurid  and 
fitful  flame  of  which  is  indicative  of  an  ability  to  work  injury, 
lacking  only  the  opportunity  for  development.  While  this  odious 
law  remains  upon  the  statute-books  of  the  Oanadas,  no  person  is 
safe  from  its  operation  who  is  either  a  resident  or  a  sojourner 
within  the  bounds  of  these  provinces ;  and  it  is  with  the  view 
of  procuring  its  repeal  that  the  author  of  this  little  pamphlet 
presents  himself  before  the  public,  with  an  exposition  of  his 
wrongs  and  sufferings,  and  those  of  many  other  individuals,  who 
have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  become  subject  to  its  penalties, 
and  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  its  merciless  administrators.  As 
graphic  details  of  the  working  of  the  law  are  the  very  best  evi- 

(11) 


]2 


IMPIUSONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


denoe  which  can  bo  presented  against  the  criminality  of  its  per- 
petuation, the  author  will  commence  with  his  own  case,  prefacing 
it  with  a 

SHORT  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

Born  May  20,  1805,  in  the  town  of  Blandford,  Hampshire 
Qounty,  Massachusetts,  when  only  five  years  of  age,  I  removed 
with  my  parents  to  Albany,  Now  York,  where  my  father  pursued 
his  trade  as  an  employing  house-joinor,  until  the  close  of  the 
war  of  1812-15.  In  October,  1815,  my  father  having  deter- 
mined to  remove  to  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  took  up  his  line  of 
march  thitherward,  with  a  wagon  and  a  pair  of  horses,  and  ar- 
rived at  his  destination  the  following  spring,  having  stopped  in 
Batavia,  Genesee  County,  New  York,  from  the  beginning  of  De- 
cember until  the  following  February.  I  remained  with  my  pa- 
rents until  I  was  nearly  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  I  left 
them,  and  journeying  eastward,  entered  Rochester,  April  5, 
1826,  where  I  found  employment  in  the  business  of  lumbering, 
which  I  have  since  continued  to  follow  in  that  place.  As  timber 
began  to  diminish  in  quantity  in  the  vicinity  of  Rochester,  wo 
were  compelled  to  iSi^idk  a  supply  on  Chippewa  Creek,  in  Canada, 
above  the  Falls  of  Niagara;  and  when  the  supply  there  also 
failed,  I  moved  to  Vienna,  Elgin  County,  Canada  West,  150 
miles  from  the  Falls,  and  northward  of  Lake  Erie,  where  I  com- 
menced selling  goods,  ai^d  buying  pine  lumber,  which  I  shipped 
to  Eastern  merchants.  I  also  conducted  a  manufactory  of  various 
descriptions  of  pine  lumber.  After  laboring  for  four  or  five 
years  at  Vienna,  I  committed  my  business  to  the  care  of  agents, 
and  proceeded  to  Chatham,  Kent  County,  150  miles  farther  west, 
where  there  was  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  black  walnut,  white 
wood,  white  ash,  and  other  valuable  descriptions  of  timber,  much 
in  demand  among  Eastern  lumber  dealers,  for  conversion  into 
household  furniture.  In  Feb.  1857, 1  commenced  business  in  the 
latter  place,  which  is  situated  on  the  river  Thames,  is  the  county- 


IN  THE  0ANADA8. 


It 


Beat  of  Kent  County,  and  has  a  population  of  6000  souls,  of 
whom  somewhat  over  2000  are  colored  emigrants  from  the  South- 
ern States  of  the  Union  —  Chatham  being  the  terminus  of  the 
great  underground  railroad  from  the  South  to  Canada  West. 


te- 

ih 

r  ' 
ie 


OPERATION  OF  THE  LAW. 

My  narrative  has  now  brought  me  to  the  place  where  I  was 
unjustly  and  maliciously  imprisoned  about  eighteen  months  in 
one  of  those  filthy  and  loathsome  Canadian  jails,  which  have  for 
some  years  past  been  so  justly  the  subject  of  animadversion 
among  the  natives  of  Canada  as  well  as  those  of  the  United 
states.  In  this  jail  I  was  placed  by  the  false  oath  of  a  scoun- 
drel, who  was  instigated  to  this  course  by  others,  whose  names  I 
will  give  in  the  subsequent  pages.  By  the  laws  of  Canada, 
the  debtor  is,  in  every  case,  entirely  in  the  power  and  at  the 
mercy  of  his  creditor;  and  any  person  who  owes  another  (with 
the  exception  of  privileged  parties,  such  as  members  of  Parlia- 
menTduring  their  term  of  office,  civil  and  military  officers,  etc.) 
is  liable  to  have  a  capias  sworn  out  against  him  or  her,  by  his  or 
her  creditor,  or  the  creditor's  agent,  and  to  be  oast  into  prison, 
whether  the  claim  is  just,  or  only  fabricated  for  the  occasion. 
The  creditor  goes  to  a  lawyer,  hands  him  a  fee  of  $10,  states  the 
amount  of  his  claim,  which  is  inserted  in  the  capias,  and  then, 
armed  with  this  writ,  presents  himself  before  a  magistrate,  who, 
for  twenty-five  cents,  administers  the  oath  —  which  recites  that 
A.  B.  owes  his  creditor,  C.  D.,  $40,  and  that  C.  D.  has  reason  to 
believe  that  said  A.  B.  is  about  to  leave  the  province  of  Canada 
West  with  intent  to  defraud  his  creditors  generally,  and  C.  D.  in 
particular.  The  creditor,  having  taken  this  oath,  hands  the  ca- 
pias to  the  sheriff,  together  with  a  fee  of  $10,  and  the  poor  debtor 
is  seized  as  soon  as  possible  thereafter,  whether  in  bed  or  out  of 
it,  sick  or  well,  at  night  or  in  broad  daylight,  and  cast  into  pri- 
son ;  where,  according  to  my  experience,  he  may  lay  eighteen 
months.        , 


i 


14 


IMPRISON  MINT  fOR  DEBT 


r 


I 


USUAL  MODE  OF  ARRESTINO  DEBTORS. 


■•:.     h: 


The  great  moss  of  debtors  ore  brought  into  the  prisons  at 
night;  for  the  sheriff  or  his  deputy  generally  lurks  about  the 
tavern  nearest  to  the  residenee  of  the  debtor,  until  the  poor  man 
is  seen  wending  his  way  homeward  after  the  toil  of  the  day  is 
over,  when  he  is  seised  and  hurried  off  to  a  cell.  In  this  way  a 
large  majority  of  the  debtors  are  taken,  after  the  perjured  cre- 
ditor swears  against  them  —  the  former  rarely  having  even  the 
most  remote  idea  of  flying  the  country,  and  being  peaceably  en- 
gaged in  their  ordinary  avocations  when  arrested.  Although 
the  lawyers  themselves  say  that  seven-eighths  of  all  those  im- 
prisoned for  debt  are  falsely  sworn  against,  yet  they  will,  in  every 
case,  make  out  the  papers  for  the  $10,  and  say  nothing ;  even  if 
they  know  the  man  about  to  be  arrested  to  be  perfectly  respon- 
sible, and  to  harbor  no  intention  of  crossing  into  the  United 
States.  This  is  what  the  Canadian  terms  a  short  way  of  collect- 
ing, by  playing  off  a  Canada  drive  on  his  debtor.  Onoe  in  jail, 
the  debtor  must  pay  all  the  costs,  together  with  the  amount  the 
creditor  has  sworn  he  owes  him,  whether  rightftil  or  otherwise, 
or  else  lay  in  prison  from  one  session  of  court  to  another,  before 
he  will  be  permitted  to  produce  testimony  in  diminution  of  the 
amount  of  the  claim,  provided  he  is  not  satisfied  with  it.  The 
Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  are  held  every  three  months,  and  the 
Court  of  Queen's  Bench  sits  twice  each  year,  in  November  and 
April.  ' 


..'V 


COURTS  OF  JUDICATURE  —  PRACTICES  OF  CREDITORS. 


A  debt  of  $200  and  upward  can  be  sued  out  in  the  Court  of 
Queen's  Bench;  and  if  the  party  be  incarcerated  immediately 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  November  session,  he  must  either 
pay  all  that  is  claimed  of  him,  or  remain  in  his  seven-by-nine 
cell  until  the  following  April,  unless  bail  can  be  procured  in 


\  « 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


16 


double  tho  amount  of  the  dobt  and  oostfl.  But  when  ono  man 
prooures  a  capias  against  a  debtor,  all  his  other  creditors,  if  any, 
will  do  the  same  thing ;  for  the  several  creditors  are  entitled  to 
the  payment  of  their  olaims  in  the  order  in  which  they  arrest 
their  debtor.  There  is  no  alternative  lefl  for  the  man  who  owes 
others,  if  one  of  his  creditors  commence  proceedings  against  him ; 
ho  must  inevitably  be  ruined  by  the  costs,  and  the  opprobrium 
of  being  imprisoned ;  which  latter  is  a  verdict  of  condemnation 
against  any  man  in  Canada  —  he  can  no  longer  prosecute  busi- 
ness there  after  receiving  that  badge,  notwithstanding  he  may 
honestly  pay  every  dollar  he  owes. 

The  only  way  for  a  debtor  to  procure  his  release  is  to  make  an 
assignment  of  his  property  after  all  his  creditors  have  obtained 
capiases  against  him,  and  then  make  application  to  the  court  for 
his  discharge.  Even  then,  if  a  creditor  chooses  to  object,  and 
aver  that  ho  thinks  his  debtor  still  holds  property,  and  that  he 
wishes  to  examine  him  further  in  relation  thereto,  the  judges 
will  refuse  the  application.  By  these  false  pretences  the  creditor 
will  hold  his  debtor  for  twelve  or  eighteen  months,  torturing 
both  himself  and  his  family,  with  the  hope  that  some  friend  or 
relative  will  voluntarily  pay  that  portion  of  the  debt  and  costs 
which  tho  assigned  property  has  foiled  to  cover.  In  most  cafi{!S, 
one-half  of  the  debtor's  property  is  swallowed  up  by  costs  and 
expenses,  and  e£fects  nothing  toward  diminishing  his  debt.  Thus 
are  men  robbed  and  ruined,  their  families  agonized  and  famished, 
and  their  domestic  happiness  forever  destroyed,  by  the  operation 
of  an  unjust  and  iniquitous  law,  which  o£fers  a  premium  upon 
perjury,  places  virtue  at  a  discount,  and  is  administered  by 
scoundrels,  who  necessarily  are  made  such  by  the  law  which  they 
are  called  upon  to  see  executed.  Could  the  people  of  Canada 
see  in  one  view  the  wretchedness  and  crime  which  are  the  results 
of  this  law ;  the  tyranny  and  oppression  practised  by  those  who 
use  it  to  serve  their  own  base  ends }  and  the  ichumunity  of  its 


M-, 


16 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


soulless  administrators ;  they  would  rise  up  in  the  majesty  of 
their  might,  expunge  it  from  their  statutes,  and  consign  to  ob- 
liyion  ai!  who  have  hitherto  upheld  and  sanctioned  it. 


&1 
ai 


THE  LAW  AN  INOSNTIVE  TO  THE  COMMISSION  OF  GRIME. 

The  law  incites  a  creditor  to  the  imprisonment  of  his  debtor, 
because,  if  the  latter  is  worth  the  amount,  the  former  will  be 
sure  of  his  money,  whether  the  debtor  does  or  does  not  make  an 
assignment.  Lawyers  will  generally  advise  a  creditor  to  take  out 
a  capias,  in  order  that  they  may  pocket  their  fee  of  310 ;  and 
frequently,  when  one  neighbor  owes  another,  the  creditor  will 
instigate  some  person  to  originate  a  report  that  the  delitor  is 
about  to  run  away,  when  the  former  will  have  a  good  plea  for 
taking  out  a  capias  against  him.  In  this  manner  a  man's  time  is 
lost,  his  money  frittered  away,  his  farm  or  business  ruined  by 
forced  neglect,  and  in  many  instances,  himself  and  his  cherished 
wife  and  innocent  children  reduced  to  absolute  and  grinding  po- 
verty, followed  by  degradation,  starvation,  and  untimely  death.  '■ 


SI 

t( 


WHY  CANADA  DOES  NOT  THRIVE. 


;«.« 


I  ! 


The  Canadians  themselves  allege  that  the  provinces  arei  fifty 
years  behind  the  United  States  in  agriculture,  manufactures,  and 
the  arts  and  sciences;  and  this  is  mainly  occasioned  by  the  laws 
of  the  country  allowing  one  or  more  evil-disposed  persons  to 
tyrannize  over  another,  by  unjust  persecutions,  until  the  debtor, 
and  in  some  cases  the  creditor  also,  succumbs  under  the  accu- 
mulated burden  of  costs.  Can  it  be  wondered  that  a  country  is 
poor,  when  it  is  literally  swarming  with  legalized  banditti,  who 
plunder  the  producer  of  his  all,  and  leave  him  no  capital  upon 
which  to  operate?  —  when  its  laws  are  apparently  framed  with  a 
view  to  the  oppression  of  the  people,  and  not  to  the  maintenance 
of  their  rights  and  liberties  ?  and  when  we  learn  that  the  costs 


-r.    m   THE  CAN  ADAS. 


17 


annually  paid  to,  and  oolleoted  by  lawyers,  wlio  produce  nothing, 
and,  like  vampyres,  suck  the  life-blood  from  the  body  politic, 
would  pay  for  the  education  of  all  the  children  in  Canada  under 
sixteen  years  of  age  ? 


BLAOKOUARD  LAWTERS  AND  CRAFTY  MERCHANTS. 

Although  the  lawyers  charge  and  collect  the  most  extravagant 
sums  from  the  people  for  whom  they  do  business,  which  were  bet- 
ter undone,  yet  the  money  does  but  few  of  them  any  good ;  for  they 
generally  eat,  drink,  and  carouse,  until  a  premature  death,  caused 
by  gout  or  delirium  tremens,  makes  an  end  of  their  drunken  or- 
gies and  villanous  oppression  of  worthy  and  deserving  men.  The 
farmers  and  mechanic  s  of  the  country  are  harassed  and  k^t  in 
a  continual  state  of  alarm  by  law,  whenever  a  hold  can  be  got 
upon  them,  either  justly  or  unjustly;  and  too  many  of  the  mer- 
chants and  shopkeepers  get  them  into  their  debt  by  false  pre- 
tences; when,  between  the  law  and  the  jail,  they  become  pos- 
sessed of  all  their  debtors  own  in  the  world.  Under  such 
oireumstances,  no  sympathy,  no  mercy,  can  be  obtained  by  either 
sex  from  their  remorseless  creditors;  and  « diamond  cut  dia- 
mond "  is  the  character  of  too  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
cities  and  villages  of  Canada  West. 


< 


CONDUCT   OF  CANADIANS  TOWARD  CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATES. 

These  people  are  very  courteous  and  affable  toward  citizens  of 
the  States  (Yankees,  as  they  are  called  by  the  Canadians)  when 
they  come  into  Canada  with  plenty  of  money ;  but  there  are  very 
few  of  them  who  ever  think  they  get  compensating  remuneration 
for  their  labor,  or  a  sufficient  price  for  any  articles  they  have  for 
sale.  A  Canadian  will  watch  very  closely  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  with  whom  he  does  business ;  and  if  he  is  not 
likely  to  make  much  of  a  speculation  out  of  him,  he  will,  if  there 
is  a  balance  due  him,  throw  the  unwary  debtor  into  jail,  and 
2*  B 


I 

I 


M 


I 


18 


IMPRIBONMINT  FOR  DEBT 


there  keep  him  until  all  his  ends  are  answered,  let  them  be  what 
they  may.  Many  business  men  from  the  United  Htatcs  visited 
me  in  prison,  and,  after  luarning  the  facts  of  my  case,  promptly 
said  they  would  novor  vouturu  one  dollar  in  Canada  in  any  trade, 
nor  sloop  a  night  on  its  soil  if  thoy  owed  a  cent.  No  opportu- 
nity  is  a£forded  for  the  exhibition  of  enterprise  in  business  pur- 
suits, wherein  a  necessity  exists  for  the  u^o  of  credit  to  any  ox- 
tent.  If  a  contract  is  made  with  a  Canadian,  and  money 
advanced  to  him,  he  docs  not  caro  whether  he  fulfils  his  part  of 
the  agreement  or  not ;  as  long  as  ho  can  procure  money,  ho  will 
be  lavish  with  promises ;  but  when  the  other  party  seeks  redress 
for  the  faithlessness  of  the  Canadian,  by  some  mode  or  other, 
the  latter  manages  to  elude  the  grasp  of  the  law,  and  the  baffled 
foreign  creditor  has  the  mortification  of  defeat  to  add  to  his  pe- 
cuniary losses.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  has  no  chance 
in  a  legal  controversy  with  a  Canadian.  The  very  best  secu- 
rity is  required  for  the  costs,  which  are  enormous }  and  then  the 

counsel  of  his  opponent  denounces  him  as  ad d  Yankee,  while 

the  judge,  as  well  as  the  jury,  are,  to  a  man,  prepossessed  against 
him. 


n 


SMOi,; 


ADVICE  TO  CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATES. 


I  would  advise  the  citizens  of  the  Union  not  to  transact  any 
business  in  the  Canadas,  or  with  Canadians,  which  they  can 
avoid,  until  such  time  as  the  laws  are  so  altered  or  amended  as 
to  enable  them  to  do  so  with  safety,  and  when  they  can  be  cer- 
tain of  their  ability  to  return  to  their  families  after  they  have 
accomplished  the  purpose  which  called  them  from  their  homes. 
The  laws  of  Canada  should  be  so  framed  as  to  induce  immigra- 
tion from  the  United  States,  instead  of,  as  at  present,  actually 
forcing  emigration  thitherward.  Population  is  necessary  to  the 
prosperity  of  every  country ;  but  population  will  not  tend  toward 
a  land  in  which  unjust  laws  and  corrupt  officials  work  together 
in  rearing  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  material,  social,  and  in- 


Til:  Iff  xHi;  CANADAB.    f-^ 


10 


telleotual  adTftnoomont.  Hundredi  of  good  mon,  whose  seryioei 
arc  aotually  noodod  in  tho  conutry,  arc  rinnually  driven  from  it  by 
tho  rigid  and  tyrannioal  law  uuthoriEing  imprisonment  for  debt 
i— which  it  ia  impossible  for  men  tu  avoid  oontractiug  in  times 
of  monetary  and  oommeroial  depression. 


REPRISENTATIVIB   OF  THE  RIOnT  STAMP. 

There  are  many  warm-hearted  and  sound-thinking  people  in 
the  Canados,  who  would,  if  they  had  the  power,  so  modify  the 
law  that  a  flood  of  immigrants  would  pour  into  the  country,  pur- 
chase lands,  become  farmers,  and  engage  in  many  other  useful 
productive  occupations,  the  walks  of  which  are  now  compara- 
tively deserted.  Every  new  settler  is  of  use,  either  direothr  or 
indirectly,  to  those  already  established  in  any  country ;  for,  while 
he  sells  his  own  labor,  he  also  purchases  that  of  others,  and  thus 
contributes  his  share  to  the  general  stock  of  wealth  and  comfort. 
The  business  men  of  both  the  Ganadas  and  the  Union  are  greatly 
indebted  to  two  talented  and  noble  members  of  the  Provincial 
Parliament,  who  have  labored  assiduously  during  the  last  two 
years  to  procure  the  repeal  of  all  laws  sanctioning  the  imprison- 
ment of  debtors  by  their  creditors.  These  gentlemen,  the  Hon. 
George  Brown,  of  Toronto,  and  the  Hon.  George  McMicken,  of 
Olifton,  have  not  only  given  their  time,  but  have  also  spent 
much  money,  in  furtherance  of  their  efforts  to  have  the  laws  of 
Canada  modelled  after  those  of  the  States,  as  far  as  it  is  possible 
so  to  do.  Although  natives  of  Scotland,  they  are  generally 
called  ^'  Native  Americans "  by  the  Yankees  doing  business  in 
Canada — probably  because  of  their  predilection  for  the  customs 
and  usages  of  the  people  of  tho  Union. 


:t%- 


THE  OANADAS  A  FERTILE  REGION. 


in- 


Canada  West  is  a  beautiful  country ;  the  land  is  remarkably 
fertile,  and  produces  large  crops  of  all  kinds  of  grain,  as  well  as 


20 


IMt'UlBONMlNT   FOR   UKHT 


grjws  of  cxoollont  quality  in  groat  abundanco.  Where  attention 
has  boon  given  to  breeding,  every  description  of  stock  is  of  a 
fair  character,  and  is  susceptible  of  still  greater  ituprovenient, 
with  proper  management.  i*or  quality  or  variety,  the  timber 
cannot  bo  exceeded  by  any  grown  in  the  United  States  j  and 
comprises  white  oak,  black  walnut,  white  wood,  white  ash,  white 
pine,  cherry,  and  many  other  kinds  of  less  value.  The  white 
oak,  of  which  there  is  a  groat  abundance,  is  generally  used  for 
stjvvcs  and  ship-timber,  and  much  of  it  is  squared  up  rouglily 
and  shipped  to  Liverpool,  Kngland.  The  other  woods  mentioned 
above  are  also  much  sought  for  shipment  to  the  United  States 
ntid  to  Europe,  where  they  are  largely  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  furniture.  In  fact,  nothing  is  lacking  in  Canada  but  now 
laws,  so  drawn  up  as  to  allow  the  producer  to  retain  and  enjoy 
tho  legitimate  fruits  of  his  own  industry,  economy,  and  prudence. 

NON-INTKROOURSE    WITH     CANADA    UNTIL    TUB    LAWS    ARE 

''".         CIIANOEl).  ' 

It  is  my  settled  purpose  never  again  to  transact  any  business 
in  Canada  until  all  tho  obnoxious  laws  are  repealed,  and  a  com- 
plete change  has  been  inaugurated,  looking  to  the  protection  of 
both  property  and  person.  Furthermore,  I  will,  as  far  as  within 
my  power,  warn  others  of  the  danger  they  incur  by  doing  busi- 
ness in  that  country,  and  deter  them  from  making  settlement 
there.     In  this  resolve  I  am  not  by  any  nicans  alone. 


THE  IMPRISONMENT  OP  THE  AUTHOR. 

llcturning  to  the  subject  of  my  imprisonment  in  tho  jail  of 
Chatham,  Canada  West,  I  will  endeavor  to  give  a  faithful  narra- 
tive of  tho  facts  as  they  occurred ;  and  I  trust  that,  wherever  I 
am  known  and  have  transacted  business,  it  may  meet  the  approval 
of  my  numerous  friends  and  acquaintances,  who  have  long  do- 
wred  such  a  statement.     After  tho  perusal  of  these  pages,  I  will 


IN   TUB  0ANADA8. 


21 


loavc  it  to  tliom  to  dotonnino  whotlior  or  not  I.  doHorvod  tho 
punish niont  l  rocoivcd  at  tho  hands  of  tho  nioroiloHS  ivdniinistra- 
tors  of  tho  tymnnioal  and  unjust  laws  of  (lannda  WoHt. 

Tho  first  man  with  whom  I  entered  into  a  contract  for  lumber 


was 


hr 


;i.i    PT-a. 


IIOUERT  J.    Rl'lNTYUB,     . 

an  illiterate  Nova  Sootian,  whoso  narrow  mind  mirrored  itself  in 
his  acts,  and  whose  selfish  heart  never  beat  responsive  to  a  plea- 
surable or  a  charitable  emotion  —  like  Shylock,  he  yearned  only 
for  his  "  pound  of  fiesh."  As  is  usual  in  that  locality,  ho  wanted 
advances  in  cash  on  account  of  lumber  to  bo  delivered  at  future 
stated  periods,  and  represented  himself  to  be  worth  $20,000,  tho 
owner  of  a  fine  farm,  saw-mill,  etc.,  etc.  I  advanced  him  the 
cash  agreed  upon,  and  in  due  time  he  commenced  operations  j 
but  during  that  season  he  got  out  somewhat  less  than  one-fourth 
of  the  quantity  he  had  contracted  to  deliver — pleading  as  an  ex- 
cuse that  ho  could  not  well  deliver  it  because  of  a  rise  in  tho 
prices  of  freight  j  but  that  he  would  get  out  tho  balance  during 
tho  next  season.  Mark  tho  selfish  character  of  the  man.  If  ho 
fulfilled  his  contract,  ho  might  sufi'er  a  small  pecuniary  loss,  and 
therefore  ho  failed  to  dc  so ;  but  no  consideration  was  given  to 
the  injury  ho  was  inflicting  upon  me,  by  preventing  me  from 
sending  the  lumber  to  market  as  I  had  promised  —  for  which  I 
was  responsible  in  damages  to  tho  parties  with  whom  I  had  con- 
tracted. ■■'■'"'''         '*'^     '■         :     '  f  I  -        /    -  ',.     .r     »r-  ■    ■■^' 

Finding  that  I  was  so  situated  that  I  could  not  well  help  my- 
self, I  concluded  to  make  tho  best  of  it,  and  to  take  his  lumber 
during  tho  following  season — that  of  1 857 ;  and  during  tho  win- 
ter and  spring  of  tho  latter  year,  I  continued  to  make  him  ad- 
vances of  money,  with  which  to  purchase  his  stock  —  in  all, 
amounting  to  about  $2(500.  Our  contract  called  for  my  accept- 
anoo  of  drafts  on  mo  at  two  and  four  months,  payable  in  Albany, 
for  the  value  of  each  cargo  of  lumber,  minus  the  cash  already 


22 


IMPRISONMENT  FOB  DEBT 


i 


'i'l 


advanced  thereon ;  bnt  Mr.  M'Intyre  did  not  furnish  sufficient 
lumber  to  cover  the  money  advanced  him  until  after  the  5th  of 
August,  1857.  It  was  not  my  intention  to  let  him,  or  any  other 
person,  hold  my  paper;  and,  although  the  contract  was  so  worded 
as  to  require  the  transferrence  of  my  acceptances  to  my  creditor, 
yet  this  clause  was  only  introduced  to  provide  against  the  con- 
tingency of  the  commission  merchants  in  Albany,  to  whom  my 
consignments  were  made,  not  being  able  to  realize  from  sales, 
and  remit  by  draft,  in  time  to  suit  my  purposes.  On  receipt  of 
such  drafts,  I  converted  them  into  cash,  and  paid  the  money  to 
those  parties  with  whom  I  had  contracts.  My  usual  practice 
was  to  ascertain  the  value  of  a  cargo  by  measurement  and  in- 
spection, draw  for  the  amount  upon  my  consignees  in  Albany, 
and  accompany  the  draft  with  a  duplicate  bill  of  lading,  signed 
by  the  captain  of  the  vessel.  The  proceeds  were  generally  re- 
ceived in  from  eight  to  twelve  days,  and  the  claims  of  my  cre- 
ditors immediately  satisfied. 

I  found  that  Mr.  Robert  J.  M^Intyre  was  hunted  and  dunned 
by  almost  every  person  in  the  town  of  Chatham ;  and  he  gave 
me  no  peace  until  I  consented  to  accept  his  drafts,  on  which  he 
could  procure  money  at  the  Commercial  Bank,  in  Chatham -~- 
frequently  not  being  willing  to  wait  until  the  value  of  the  load 
was  ascertained.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  I  learned  that  he 
had  slandered  me  in  many  instances,  by  telling  his  creditors  that 
I  was  indebted  to  him,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  could  procure  his 
money  from  me  he  would  pay  them.  M'Intyre's  drafts,  which  I 
accepted  in  August,  September,  and  October,  of  1857,  were 
made  at  ninety  days  each,  and,  consequently,  matured  late  in  the 
autumn  and  winter ;  at  which  time,  owing  to  the  great  monetary 
convulsion,  sales  of  every  kind  of  products  were  made  with  ex- 
treme difficulty,  if  effected  at  all.  My  consignees  in  Albany 
were  not  willing  to  accept  any  more  drafts  against  the  lumber 
they  still  had  on  hand  unsold,  as  prices  of  all  kinds  of  produce 
were  rapidly  falling,  and  it  was  even  difficult  to  make  sales  at 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


28 


any  price.  Commission  merchants  who  held  lumber,  or  any  other 
description  of  property,  valued,  at  the  time  of  making  advances 
upon  it,  at  double  the  amount  of  those  advances,  were  in  dread 
of  not  being  able  to  realize  their  own— so  rapid  was  the  depre- 
ciation of  property,  and  so  utterly  prostrate  was  the  entire  busi- 
ness world.  As  a  matter  of  course,  when  I  could  get  no  returns 
for  my  shipments,  I  was  compelled  to  cease  making  payments 
also ;  but,  for  anything  that  I  know  to  the  contrary,  Bobert  J. 
M^Intyre  had  offered  my  acceptances  for  discount  at  the  bank, 
and  at  this  very  time  had  the  money  in  his  pocket,  amounting 
to  something  like  ^600.  I  would  not  have  been  his  debtor  to 
this  amount,  had  he  have  given  me  a  few  days  time  after  his  car- 
goes were  shipped ;  when  he  would  have  received  his  money  in 
the  same  manner  as  when  I  was  making  him  advances. 


;3«-j  mt\t 


*!iijv>'>t>^a  ixi^rQ9M-'ir 


D.  R.  VAN  ALLEN. 


-■>-^ 


A  part  of  this  paper  matured  before  the  first  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1857  'f  and  in  addition  to  this,  there  were  a  few  small  claims 
against  me  in  the  hands  of  other  parties,  for  balances  due  on 
lumber  furnished  by  contract.  No  one  of  these  individuals, 
however,  fulfilled  the  letter  of  his  contract  any  better  than  Mr. 
M'Intyre.  A  Mr.  J).  R.  Van  Allen  contracted  to  deliver  me  a 
large  lot  of  lumber,  on  which  I  advanced  him  $1500 ;  but  before 
I  received  from  him  the  amount  of  my  advance,  he  pressed  me 
for  more  money,  or  paper  upon  which  he  could  realize.  I  loaned 
him  my  acceptance  for  $500,  a  short  time  thereafter,  a  second 
acceptance,  for  $400,  and  still  later,  another,  for  $300  —  in  all, 
$1200.  This  paper  he  promised  faithfully  to  redeem  at  maturity; 
but  as  all  the  drafts  fell  due  at  a  time  when  the  panic  was  at  its 
height,  he  could  not  meet  them ;  nor  could  I,  although  he  had 
by  th!  (.  time  delivered  sufficient  lumber  to  cover  the  advances 
m'/'     s  also  this  amount  of  $1200.    K  I  haci  not  given  my 


■  5 
I 


24 


IMPRISONMENT  TOR  DEBT 


acceptances  until  such  time  as  the  contract  specified,  they  would 
not  have  matured  before  I  was  able  to  take  them  up. 

The  second  delivery  which  Mr.  Van  Allen  made  under  his  con- 
tract fell  greatly  short  of  his  estimate,  and  was  a  cause  of  deten- 
tion to  a  large  vessel  lying  in  the  port  of  Chatham.  Instead  of 
a  full  cargo,  what  he  had  furnished  made  but  about  half  a  load, 
and  he  could  not  haul  any  more  from  his  mill  to  the  river  on  ac- 
count of  the  condition  of  the  roads.  To  complete  his  cargo,  I 
was  obliged  to  pick  up  what  I  could  at  other  points  in  Chatham  ] 
for  which  detention  he  charged  a  demurrage  amounting  to  $300. 
This  was  really  due  from,  and  should  have  been  paid  by,  Mr. 
Van  Allen ;  but  he  objected  to  doing  so,  on  some  miserable  plea. 
As  the  captain  of  the  vessel  had  my  lumber  in  his  possession, 
and  could  hold  it,,  or  sell  enough  to  cancel  his  claim,  I  paid  the 
money ;  but  after  I  was  thrown  into  prison,  Mr.  Van  Allen  came 
to  the  magnanimous  determination  to  allow  me  $100  on  account. 


!      ! 


I') 

t 


HENRY  M.   MARSH.  .      r 

The  next  gentleman  with  whom  I  contracted  was  Mr.  Henry 
M.  Marsh,  a  native-born  Canadian,  who  had  built  the  frame  of  a 
mill,  and  got  ready  the  wooden  part  of  the  machinery.  The 
steam  machinery  was  completed  in  Detroit,  about  the  1st  of 
April,  1857 ;  but  as  the  makers  would  not  deliver  it  until  a  cer- 
tain sum  in  cash  was  paid,  he  came  to  me,  and  offered  to  contract 
to  deliver  on  board  vessels,  during  the  summer  of  1857, 500,000 
feet  of  lumber,  provided  I  would  advance  him  $1500.  I  acceded 
to  his  terms,  and  this  money  started  him  in  business  in  a  satis- 
factory manner ;  but  he  still  required  advances,  which  I  conti- 
nued to  make,  to  help  him  along,  until  he  had  received  $1982 ;  at 
which  time  he  had  not  delivered  to  me  one  foot  of  lumber  on  account 
of  his  contract — beside  which,  he  eventually  failed  to  supply  one 
half  the  number  of  feet  he  had  contracted  to  furnish.    The  se- 


'1 


r<i^  IN   THE  OANADAS. 


8fi 


hey  would 

V 

3r  his  con- 
)  of  deten- 
[nstead  of 
nlf  a  load, 
ver  on  ac- 
s  cargo,  I 
Chatham ; 
5  to  «300. 
d  by,  Mr. 
rable  pica, 
possession, 
I  paid  the 
Jlcn  came 
Q  account. 


[r.  Henry 

rame  of  a 

[ry.     The 

le  1st  of 

itil  a  cer- 

contract 

500,000 

acceded 

a  satis- 

I  conti- 

L982;at 

account 

)ply  one 

The  se- 


cond and  last  cargo  he  delivered  brought  me  into  his  debt  about 
$350,  which  I  could  not  pay  at  the  maturity  of  the  note. 

m'keller  and  dolson. 

The  Hon.  A.  M'Kellcr,  aud  his  partner,  John  L.  Dolson, 
doing  business  under  the  firm  of  M'Keller  and  Dolson,  are  the 
next  parties  of  whom  I  shall  speak.  I  had  no  contract  with 
them,  as  I  never  could  realize  a  much  greater  sum  for  their  lum- 
ber in  Eastern  markets  than  they  would  charge  me  at  their  mills ; 
and  after  it  arrived  in  market,  the  measurement,  on  inspection, 
would  never  hold  out  the  number  of  feet  charged.  I  therefore 
only  bought  of  them  as  necessity  compelled  me,  and  sometimes 
I  would  take  a  full  load,  while  at  others  I  would  only  purchase 
sufficient  to  finish  out  a  cargo  bought  at  other  places.  I  dealt 
with  this  firm,  more  or  less,  for  three  years ;  and  the  last  small 
lot  which  I  purchased  of  them,  late  in  the  autumn  of  1857, 
brought  me  in  their  debt  $218  j  but  they  sent  me  a  bill  for  $315 
or  $320,  which  I  very  properly  refused  to  pay. 

HYPOCRITICAL   PROFESSIONS. 

The  Hon.  A.  M'Keller,  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  which 
I  have  just  spoken  above,  is  the  gentleman  who  procured  his 
election  to  Parliament  upon  the  platform  of  opposition  to  impri- 
sonment for  debt.  He  traversed  the  entire  country,  making 
speeches  against  the  brutality  of  the  system,  by  which  business 
men  were  locked  up  in  prison  because  they  could  not  pay  their 
debts — which  Grod,  and  himself,  and  the  whole  country,  knew 
they  would  never  be  able  to  pay  while  incarcerated.  These 
speeches  were  not  at  all  necessary ;  for  all  that  was  required  to 
ensure  his  election  Tvas  the  assurance  that  he  was  opposed  to  the 
law  which  sanctioned  imprisonment  for  debt,  as  the  people  of  the 
Canadas  are  almost  universally  in  favor  of  its  repeal  —  the  ex- 


26 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


oeptions  being  wholesale  dealers,  whoso  peculiar  character  of 
business  compels  them  to  give  time,  lawyers,  who  thrive  by 
drawing  up  the  writs,  and  the  sheriifs,  whose  duty  it  is  to  servo 
them.  These  are  the  people  who  favor  imprisonment,  and  who 
will  keep  a  debtor  confined  as  long  as  the  lamp  of  his  life  holds 
out.  Imprisonment  is  the  scourge  which,  held  over  a  poox* 
debtor,  compels  him  to  surrender  the  last  bed  in  his  house,  or  the 
remnant  of  carpet  on  his  floor.  •^'< 


iinVt^^W' 


jr«.«36M!' 


OTIIEll   CREDITORS. 


•■•il;* 


mt- 


4    i 


;i   » 


ill 


My  principal  persecutors  ":c  the  four  men  above  spoken  of  j 
though  there  were  two  or  three  others  who  assisted,  but  only  in 
a  minor  degree.  The  conduct  of  some  of  my  creditors,  to  whom 
I  owed  small  amounts,  was  very  honorable  and  gentlemanly ;  and 
among  these  I  take  pleasure  in  naming  Messrs.  Gardiner  &  Gibb, 
D.  Sicklested,  Craig  &  Howard,  and  J.  Bradshaw.  These  gen- 
tlemen were  willing  to  settle  with  me,  give  the  necessary  time, 
and  receive  their  money  as  it  could  be  collected,  during  such 
seasons  as  those  of  the  latter  part  of  1857  and  all  of  1858.  The 
larger  part  of  these  debts  have  been  paid,  and  the  balance  will  bo 
liquidated  at  the  earliest  possible  period. 


v?r' 


THE   COMMERCIAL  BANK   OF   CANADA. 


Having  thus  made  an  exhibit  of  my-  indebtedness  in  Canada, 
and  of  the  manner  in  which  it  was  incurred,  I  will  now  proceed 
to  state  some  of  the  circumstances  more  immediately  connected 
with  my  seizure  and  imprisonment.  No  pine  lumber  being  pro- 
curable in  the  county  of  Kent,  and  a  considerable  quantity  being 
demanded  for  use  in  the  town  and  surrounding  country,  I  shipped 
from  Elgin  County,  in  the  pine  regions,  about  300,000  feet  of 
the  descriptions  used  by  the  trade  in  Chatham.  I  opened  a 
lumber-yard  iu  the  town,  and  was  doing  a  very  fair  retail  busi- 


T«    IN   THE  CANADA8.IK1 


27 


icter  of 
irive  by 
to  servo 
and  who 
ifo  holds 
'  a  pooi* 
0,  or  the 


■4 


ok  en  of; 
t  only  in 
to  whom 
nly  'y  and 

&  Gibb, 
ese  gen- 
try time, 

ig  such 
The 
will  bo 


Canada, 
proceed 
nneotcd 
ing  pro- 
y  being 
shipped 
feet  of 
ened  a 
il  busi- 


P 

It  » 


nes8,  when  Mr.  Stephen  Boushey,  a  resident  trader,  and  a  re- 
sponsible man,  proposed  to  buy  out  my  yard,  and  carry  on  the 
business  himself.  At  this  time,  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Canada 
held  the  acceptances  which,  as  stated  above,  I  had  given  to  dif- 
ferent parties,  and  the  officers  of  the  bank  had  notified  me  that 
they  were  aware  of  the  inability  of  any  of  their  customers  in 
,the  lumber  trade  to  meet  their  liabilities  during  that  season,  but 
offered  to  take  sufficient  security  for  the  amount,  and  carry  the 
paper  over  until  such  time  as  the  lumber  would  find  sale  in  Al- 
bany— or,  until  the  spring  of  1858.  Under  these  circumstances, 
I  sold  out  to  Mr.  Boushey,  for  the  sum  of  $3462,  and  agreed  to 
receive  in  payment  notes  payable  at  the  Commercial  Bank — the 
institution  which  held  my  paper.  Before  the  notes  were  placed 
in  my  hands  by  Mr.  Boushey,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  visit- 
ing Montreal  and  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing 
goods  for  my  store ;  but,  as  I  designed  stopping  at  London,  Ca- 
nada West,  to  see  Mr.  John  G-.  Harper,  the  presiding  officer  of 
a  more  important  branch  of  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Canada,  I 
carried  with  me  letters  from  the  attorney  of  the  bank  at  Chat- 
ham, stating  that  I  had  offered  to  place  the  bank  in  possession 
of  Mr.  Boushey's  notes,  as  collateral  security  for  my  own  accept- 
ances, which  had  been  discounted  by  the  branch  at  Chatham. 
During  an  interview  with  Mr.  Harper,  on  the  12th  or  14th  of 
November,  he  intimated  that  he  would  rather  have  possession  of 
the  lumber-yard,  and  take  the  receipts ;  but,  as  I  wished  to  sell 
out,  he  said  he  would  accept  the  notes  instead ;  and  furthermore, 
told  me  that  if,  on  my  returh  from  the  East,  I  would  put  the 
officer  of  the  bank  at  Chatham  in  possession  of  the  notes,  the 
arrangement  would  be  perfectly  satisfactory. 

-■  -       .  ""■  '^"'* 

THE   MANNER   Of   MY  ARREST. 

After  transacting  my  business  in  Montreal,  New  York,  and 
other  places.,  I  returned  to  Chatham  on  the  first  day  of  Decern- 


!■!:  f 


'  ■  ;  1 


i   ^ 


!U  ' 


::  iM 


28 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR   DEBT 


ber,  about  9^  o'clock,  P.  M. ;  and  the  goods  I  had  purchased 
were  then  en  route  for  Vienna,  Canada  West,  ray  place  of  busi- 
ness, as  was  also  u  vessel-load  of  salt,  purchased  in  Buffalo,  New 
York.  The  following  day,  I  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  11.  J. 
MTntyre,  who  spoke  of  his  desire  to  have  a  settlement  of  my 
account  with  him.  At  12  o'clock  M.,  he  took  the  train  for  Lon- 
don, sixty  niiles  distant,  where  he  held  a  consultation  with  Mr. 
Harper,  and  subsequently  telegraphed  to  Walter  M'Crea,  Esq., 
a  pctifogging  lawyer  of  Chatham,  directing  him  to  fill  up  a  ca- 
pias, and  notify  the  sheriff  to  hold  himself  in  readiness,  as  it 
was  the  intention  to  imprison  Brown.  M'Intyre  returned  the 
same  evening,  on  the  9-30  train,  and  all  the  arrangements  were 
made  for  my  arrest  when  I  went  to  my  lodgings  at  the  Royal 
Exchange  Hotel.  J)uring  the  evening,  I  had  been  in  company 
with  Mr.  Boushey,  talking  over  our  business  matters;  and  it  had 
been  arranged  that,  on  the  following  day,  I  should  receive  his 
notes  in  payment  for  my  lumber-yard,  and  transfer  them  to  the 
bank,  in  conformity  with  the  agreement  entered  into  with  Mr. 
Harper.  I  left  Mr.  Boushey  about  10^  o'clock,  P.  M.,  went  to 
my  hotel,  and  was  in  my  room,  making  preparations  to  retire  for 
the  night,  when  a  messenger  informed  me  that  a  gentleman 
wished  to  see  me  in  an  adjoining  apartment.  Immediately  put- 
ting on  my  vest  and  coat,  I  went  to  the  room  indicated,  where, 
to  my  unfeigned  astonishment,  I  met  the  sheriff  and  his  ofiicers, 
who  arrested  me  at  the  suit  of  B.  J.  M'Intyre — the  villain  hav- 
ing sworn  that  I  was  about  leaving  the  province  with  the  inten- 
tion of  defrauding  himself  and  others.  About  12  o'clock  the 
same  night,  I  was  securely  locked  up  in  jail,  and  left  to  meditate 
upon  the  instability  of  everything  mundane,  the  injustice  of 
human  laws,  the  hcartlessncss  of  officials,  the  craft  of  sneaking 
lawyers,  and  the  mendacity,  dishonesty,  and  cowardly  attributes 
of  the  business  men  of  Canada. 


'\f 


turcliased 
!  of  busi- 
alo,  New 
ilr.  11.  J. 

nt  of  my 
for  Lon- 
with  Mr. 
•ea,  Esq., 
up  a  ca- 
css,  as  it 
rned  the 
mts  were 
he  Royal 
company 
[)d  it  had 
eeive  his 
m  to  tlic 
kvith  Mr. 
went  to 
etire  for 
ntleman 
|ely  put- 
where, 
officers, 
in  hav- 
|e  inten- 
ck  the 
hcditatc 
Iticc  of 
leaking 
bibutes 


i 


iM 


I 


"Walter  McCrea,"  a  pettifogging  lawyer  of  Chatham,  C.  W.— P.  23. 


■m.- 


•  I 


I! 


r      i 


I  ;  M 


-h 


i  ^  !i 


IN    THE   0ANADA8.    '  '' 


20 


...ii.      .,,.    ,,',.>  .     A   CANADIAN    JAIL.    .,♦,..         .1,...      m..i    ' 

1  will  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  my  feelings,  and  whether 
or  not  I  slept  during  the  latter  part  of  that  night.  On  a  white 
oak  floor,  well  lined  with  iron,  was  placed  a  straw  bed,  six  feet 
long  by  two  feet  wide,  and  about  six  inches  thick,  covered  with 
two  Indian  blankets;  and  at  one  end  of  it  was  a  pillow,  composed 
of  hen's  feathers  (or  rather  quills;  for  everything  in  the  shape 
of  feathers  had  long  since  effected  their  escape  between  the  gap- 
ing seams  of  the  tick).  The  miserable  pallet,  had  it  been  clean, 
presented  but  a  slim  prospect  of  a  good  night's  rest;  but  even 
this  poor  comfort  waa  denied  me;  for,  on  examining  my  couch, 
in  order  to  ascertain  the  chance  of  being  marched  off  belbro 
morning  into  another  corner  of  the  cell  by  a  more  numerous  es- 
cort than  had  brought  me  to  the  jail,  I  discovered  that  the  bag 
of  ticking  which  held  the  quills  had  apparently  been,  at  various 
times,  a  pillow  of  ease  for  the  heads  of  a  hundred  or  more  dirty, 
drunken,  spewing  vagrants.  By  the  feeble  light  of  my  candle, 
it  fairly  glistened  with  the  filth  which  had  been  deposited  upon 
it,  and  rubbed  down  to  a  fine  polish  by  the  friction  of  successive 
uneasy  and  liquor-loaded  craniums.  A  hasty  glance  at  the  blan- 
kets led  me  to  suppose  they  were  made  of  the  old  down-east,  or 
Massachusetts  pepper-and-salt  cloth  —  such  as,  fifty  years  ago, 
my  mother  used  to  manufacture  into  pantaloons  for  myself  and 
brothers ;  but,  after  going  to  bed,  I  found  that  the  peppery  ap- 
pearance of  the  blankets  was  a  living  reality ;  and  well  peppered 
was  I  before  morning.  In  all  my  previous  life,  I  never  expe- 
rienced such  misery  and  torture  as  were  inflicted  upon  me  by  the 
crawling  and  nimble-footed  vermin  during  that  long  and  dreary 
night — rendered  more  tedious  and  annoying  because  my  cell  was 
not  unlocked  until  between  8  and  9  o'clock  in  the  mornin<r.  I 
then  asked  John  Hillman,  the  turnkey,  if  they  had  fleas  in  the 
jail ;  whereupon  he  laughed  quite  heartily,  as  if  it  were  a  good 
joke,  and  replied,   "Yes,  bushels;   and  in  the   summer  they 


8 


H: 


!.     t 


80 


IMl'RIBONMENT   FOR  DEBT 


I   II 


^ 


I'i 


h'   • 


would  eat  you  up."  I  was,  however,  of  a  diflferent  opinion;  for 
I  had  niudo  a  calculation,  that  if  for  the  next  thirty  days  they 
worked  as  smartly  as  they  had  done  during  the  previous  night, 
there  would  bo  nothing  left  for  their  suiutuer  proyendei'  but  my 

bones  —  if  they  could  eat  them.  - 

The  furniture  of  the  cell  (which  in  dimensions  was  but  three 
steps  by  four)  consisted  of  two  old  wooden  chairs,  a  washstand, 
and  a  little  stand  of  about  the  same  size,  which  served  for  a  table, 
and  from  which  the  son  of  a  poor  widowed  woman,  the  occupant 
of  an  adjoining  cell,  also  ate  his  meals  —  he  being  brought  into 
my  cell  for  that  purpose,  and  afterwards  returned  to  his  own 
apartment.  In  one  corner  of  the  room  stood  a  large  tin  tank, 
which  had  once  boon  used  as  a  bathing  apparatus,  for  the  cleans- 
ing and  scrubbing  of  dirty  and  lousy  prisoners;  but,  as  it  was  an 
unpleasant  job,  it  was  not  attempted  any  more,  —  the  prisoners 
being  turned  into  the  cells  in  the  same  condition  as  when  they 
entered  the  prison.  The  bath-tub  had  degenerated  into  a 
receptacle  for  ancient  and  filthy  rag  carpets,  and  other  savory 
trash,  gathered  up  around  the  prison — forming  an  excellent  har- 
bor for  all  descriptions  of  jail  vermin,  with  which  it  was  literally 
swarming.  A  potato-hamper,  half  full  of  rotten  vegetables,  a 
broom,  worn  down  to  the  stump,  and  a  small  box-stove,  completed 
the  fixtures  of  my  cell.  The  walls  had  been  whitewashed  in 
times  gone  by,  but  were  then  not  only  dingy,  but  horribly  dirty, 
while  the  floor  had  very  much  the  appearance  of  that  of  a  lager- 
beer  saloon  in  the  month  of  November. 


"^  lb  ill     .r«m"^->-r{  ^t^^'''6  1  mv 

A  CANADA  JAILOR.  . 


Payne,  the  man  who  had  charge  of  the  Canada  jail  in  which 
I  was  incarcerated,  was  well  fitted  for  his  occupation  by  Nature ; 
which,  apparently  by  accident,  made  him  a  biped  instead  of 
a  quadruped ;  for,  with  the  body  of  a  man  he  united  the 
characteristics   of  a  brute.     He   had  such  a  devouring  look, 


IN   THE  OANADAS.     i/t 


lUi 


nion;  for 
days  they 
lus  night, 
jr  but  my 

but  thrco 
rashstand, 
or  a  tuble, 
!  occupant 
)ught  into 
)  his  own 

tin  tank, 
he  cleans- 
it  was  an 

prisoners 
ivhen  they 
d  into  a 
er  savory 

lent  har- 
,s  literally 
etables,  a 
[jompleted 
trashed  in 
bly  dirty, 
►f  a  lager- 


in  which 
Nature  j 
istead  of 
ited  the 
ng  look, 


and  his  actions  were  so  indicative  of  a  ravenous  disposition,  that 
the  prisoners  named  him  '' Grampus ;"  and  when,  in  years  past, 
ho  was  a  deputy  sheriflf,  so  wide-spread  was  his  reputation  as  a 
cruel  and  bestial  man,  that  his  approach  in  any  locality  was  suf- 
ficient to  thrill  with  terror  the  hearts  of  meil,  women,  and  chil- 
dren resident  there.  He  was  an  uncultivated  and  untaught 
Englishman ;  and,  carrying  with  him  into  his  family  circle  the 
animal  nature  which  governed  all  his  actions  in  public  life,  he 
maltreated  his  wife  and  abused  his  children.  When  Kent  County 
was  formed  out  of  part  of  Essex,  and  the  jail  built,  he  secured 
the  appointment  of  jailor — which,  as  ho  is  now  old,  ho  will  pro- 
bably retain  during  life.  ,15  #^u 

t:uH  iiHn  Avoii  v}i^m7  (His  :{Svn  f&im.m 


,:-A  , 


.t^l> 


^,1 


CANADIAN  TRUTHFULNESS  AND  HONOR. 

Thus  was  I  rewarded  for  the  many  favors  I  had  conferred 
upon  my  arresting  creditors ;  and  I  now  propose  to  give  the 
reader  a  more  full  conception  of  their  outrageous  deception  and 
inhumanity.  After  I  had  been  in  prison  a  long  time,  and  my 
creditors  had  become  pretty  well  satisfied  that  they  could  not  ob- 
tain from  me  in  cash  the  excessive  amounts  they  had  sworn  to, 
Mr.  M'lntyre  informed  me  that  he  would  not  have  acted  as  he 
had  doue,  were  it  not  for  Mr.  Harper ;  who,  when  he  went  to 
London  to  see  him,  threatened  that,  if  M'lntyre  did  not  have 
me  arrested,  he  (Harper)  would  immediately  sue  M'lntyre  on 
the  paper  which  he  had  endorsed,  and  which  was  then  past  due. 
M'lntyre  further  said  that  Walter  M'Crea,  the  lawyer  who  drew 
up  nearly  all  the  capiases  issued  in  that  county,  also  advised  him 
to  capias  the  Yankee  j  or  told  him  that  he  (M'Crea)  would,  if  he 
was  in  his  place ;  thus  indirectly  urging  one  man  to  imprison  his 
fellow.  Other  gentlemen,  of  undoubted  veracity,  informed  me 
that  M'Crea  had  advised  them  to  the  same  course.  Thus,  for 
the  petty  fee  of  $10,  this  rascal  incited  former  friends  to  engage 
in  litigation,  which  he  full  well  knew  would  end,  as  all  such 


I-     I: 


I 


1     i 


11 


111 


Vv 


.1     :i 
P,     I 


!  ! 


i'l 


M 


I : 


I 


'I' 

111! 

iHi: 


Pi 


IMl'RISONMENT  FOR  DKllT 


eases  usually  do  in  Canada,  by  the  lawyers,  officers,  and  courts 
absorbing  every  penny  of  the  debtor's  property,  and  much  of  the 
creditor's  means;  to  say  nothing  of  the  time  lost  by  both  parties 
to  such  a  contest,  and  which  can  never  be  reimbursed. 

Kevorting  back  to  the  assurances  given  mo  by  Mr.  John  G. 
Harper,  on  the  J  2th  or  14th  of  November,  the  reader  will  see 
that,  according  to  the  statement  of  llobert  J.  M'Intyro,  the  word 
of  a  high  official  connected  with  the  Commercial  Bank  of  Ca- 
nada was  not  of  as  much  value  as  that  of  a  common  pickpocket, 
burgler,  or  gambler ;  for  it  has  grown  into  a  proverb  that  "  there 
is  honor  among  thieves;"  but  this  man  and  his  fellow-perse- 
cutors scorned  the  possession  of  any  moral  qualification  in  com- 
mon with  the  vulgar  herd,  and  flouted  at  the  ideaof  any  restraint 
when  <h)f/an  weroito  be  gained.  In  less  than  three  weeks  after 
this  immoral  bank  official  had  entered  into  an  arrangement  with 
me,  which  any  man  possessing  a  single  particle  of  manly  honor 
or  upright  feeling  would  have  considered  binding  upon  his  fu- 
ture actions,  he  told  M'lntyre  to  prosecute  and  imprison  me,  or 
he  would  do  the  same  thing  by  M'lntyre.  And  this  abortion 
has  the  impudence  to  claim  kindred  with  men,  and  thrust  his 
vile  presence  among  virtuous  people !  because,  forsooth,  he  has 
been  gifted  by  a  prodigal  Nature  with  talents,  endowed  by  an  in- 
dulgent parent  with  education,  and  placed  by  chance  in  a  high 
position  —  though  he  has  utterly  disregarded  the  warning  of  the 
Omnipotent  One,  that  "from  those  to  whom  much  has  been 
given,  much  will  be  required,"  and  alike  prostituted  talents,  edu- 
cation, and  position  to  the  most  base  uses.  ■ 

What  can  be  said  in  extenuation  of  the  conduct  of  llobert  J. 
M'lntyre,  who  «.•"!  the  bidding  of  his  base  master,  and  foreswore 
himself?  Endeavoring  to  shift  the  odium  from  himself  to  the 
other  parties,  he  pleads  that  what  he  did  was  under  compulsion 
from  Harper,  and  at  the  instigation  of  the  lawyer,  M'Crea,  who 
urged  him  on  by  saying,  "  I  would  do  so,  if  I  were  in  your 
place."    But,  were  his  other  acts  entirely  unobjectionable,  which 


1 


'IN    THK   CAN  A  DAS.     »f^.' 


m 


md  courts 
uch  of  the 
oth  parties 

r.  John  G. 

er  will  SCO 

I,  the  word 

,nk  of  Ca- 

(ickpocket, 

lat  "  there 

llow-perse- 

on  in  com- 

ly  restraint 

veeks  after 

inient  with 

anly  honor 

>on  his  fu- 

son  mo,  or 

s  abortion 

thrust  his 

h,  he  has 

by  an  in- 

in  a  hinjli 

ng  of  the 

has  been 

ents,  cdu- 

llobert  J. 
foreswore 
klf  to  the 
pi  puis  ion 
prea,  who 
in  your 
le,  which 


they  were  far  from  being,  such  a  plea  would  not  be  admitted  by 
any  rational  being;  for  no  man  has  a  right  to  attribute  to  others 
the  moral  turpitude  of  his  own  actions ;  as  God  has  endowed 
each  of  his  creatures  with  a  free  will,  for  the  exercise  of  which 
he  holds  him  accountable,  and  man  cannot  establish  a  law  con- 
flicting with  that  set  up  by  the  Deity.     But  let  us  see  how  his 
deeds  square  with  his  assertions.     It  is  usually  the  practice,  in 
Canada  and  elsewhere,  under  the  operation  of  laws  authorizing 
imprisonment  for  debt,  for  the  creditor  to  swear  to  all  his  con- 
science (if  he  has  one)  will  allow  him ;  because,  in  most  cases, 
the  debtor  will  endeavor  to  procure  the  amount,  no  matter  how 
large,  in  order  to  escape  from  the  horrible  cells  of  a  prison ;  and 
if  ho  pays  before  the  next  session  of  the  court,  the  creditor's 
conduct  escapes  scrutiny,  as  he  will  not  then  be  required  to 
prove  the  amount  of  his  claim.     In  order  to  make  a  good  opera- 
tion, and  obtain  a  pocketful,  M'Intyre  swore  that  I  owed  him  the 
round  sum  of  ^GOOO,  though,  in  the  following  April,  he  got 
judgment  for  but  $4187.     Being  in  his  own  mind  fully  assured 
that  I  would  pay  the  amount  claimed  in  preference  to  remaining 
in  prison,  he  made  up  a  very  plausible  statement,  by  including 
together  past  due  drafts,  endorsed  by  himself,  drafts  not  yet  due, 
also  endorsed  with  his  name,  and  book  accounts :  althoush  ho 
had  no  means  of  knowing  whether  I  was  or  was  not  able  to  meet 
at  maturity  the  paper  not  yet  due.     He  discovered,  however,  be- 
fore he  got  through  with  me,  that  honesty  would  have  been  the 
better  policy,  and  that  it  takes  two  parties  to  make  a  contract, 
as  well  as  two  parties  to  adjust  mutual  differences.     At  the  time 
that  M'Intyre  represented  himself  to  me  as  being  worth  320,000, 
he  was  actually  a  bankrupt,  as  I  have  since  ascertained,  and  did 
not  even  own  the  farm  which  he  claimed  to  possess.     After- 
events  proved  that  all  my  creditors  were  in  the  like  predicament, 
as  every  one  of  them  failed  in  1858,  when  their  assets  wore 
found  to  fall  far  short  of  their  liabilities.  Ai.j<it'  -^vuiA-j^   >'\  t^ity? 


ii 


ni 


i 


•  >i   i'Ji'.  .V^fioiff  ^l<f 


j  t-iH  M) 


M 


-t^'.sb 


^i' 


lM(,^> 


uiiiti  > 


ill 


ii! 


:H|  ) 


11       1 


1  ! 


liiii 


lii:^  ' 


Mil 


llj 


Ci; 


»^ 


l-j 


ill 


1'::ii 


84 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


•■(U  .>K»v'UMU,';i  yd   ,Hj'« 


,-vJk. 


Ji*    i-\  m  i  s  <•?  H 


PERJURY   MOST  FOUL. 


ilUXii    i':v 


Daniel  R.  Van  Allen,  of  Cha  ;ham,  Canada  West,  and  most 
probably  a  native,  is  under  the  medium  height,  with  a  dark  com- 
plexion, black,  straight,  and  rather  coarse  hair,  and  a  face  which 
is  the  index  of  a  low  and  grovelling  mind.  For  a  long  period 
he  was  engaged  in  the  business  of  selling  goods,  but  lately  he 
has  abandoned  it;  or,  rather,  his  business  forsook  him.  For  a 
year  previous  to  his  withdrawal  from  active  business  life  he  con- 
nected the  lumber  business  with  his  store;  and  through  this  my 
intercourse  with  him  commenced.  On  the  whole,  he  is  a  pretty 
smart  man,  and,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  the  keenest  of  my  per- 
secuting creditors ;  who,  tliough  all  possessed  of  very  accomo- 
dating consciences,  cannot  compare  with  this  gentleman  in  the 
elastic  qualities  of  a  faculty  which  some  folks  are  wont  to  think 
should  be  so  governed  as  to  suit  every  emergency.  After  I  was 
securely  caged  between  impenetrable  stone  walls,  ribbed  with 
iron,  and  with  no  power  left  me  to  pursue  the  bent  of  my  own 
inclinations,  this  Mr.  Van  Allen  went  before  a  magistrate,  and 
swore,  by  the  name  of  the  Almighty  Father  of  all,  that  he  had 
good  and  sufficient  reasons  for  believing  that  I  was  about  to  run 
away,  and  quit  the  Province  of  Canada  West,  with  the  intention 
of  defrauding  my  creditors  in  general,  and  himself  in  particular. 
Furthermore,  he  swore  that  I  owed  him  the  sum  of  $400  in  ex- 
cess of  a  true  statement  of  my  indebtedness  to  him.  When  con- 
venient to  the  honorable  sheriff  of  the  county,  he  came  to  the 
jail,  unlocked  my  cell  door,  and  arrested  me — that  is,  he  handed 
me  the  writ  which  commanded  him  to  do  so ;  after  which,  he 
walked  out  and  locked  the  door  securely,  leaving  me  as  free  to 
fly  the  country  as  I  was  before  his  visit.  All  this  was  done  for 
a  fee  of  $10 ;  the  law,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  prompting 
an  arrest  of  the  debtor,  even  under  circumstances  when  flight 
must  be  clearly  impracticable.  The  creditor  who  first  issues  a 
capias  against  his  debtor  is  the  first  to  get  his  money,  and  the 


IN  THE  OANADAS.  {/ 


35 


others  follow  in  the  order  in  which  the  capiases  are  taken  out; 
while  he  who  would  resort  to  the  honest  method  of  a  suit  at  law, 
after  obtaining  judgment,  could  not  touch  a  dollar's  worth  of  his 
debtor's  property  until  the  claims  of  those  who  had  consciences 
sufficiently  elastic  to  swear  through  everything  were  fully  satis- 
fied. In  Canada,  creditors  are  more  concerned  about  procuring 
the  money  than  they  are  about  the  mode  adopted  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  and  they  Scruple  not  to  swear  false  oaths,  provided  they 
can  thereby  secure  the  coveted  prize.  They  are  good  and  cre- 
ditable pupils  of  lago ;  whose  instruction,  "  Put  money  in  thy 
purse  —  honestly  if  thou  canst  —  but,  put  money  in  thy  purse," 
they  follow  out  with  commendable  fidelity. 


■i: 


,\*',fi  '^-' 


■■"-  i'^i "j.'i'  a' 


A  PARADOX  —  AN    HONOttABLE   WHO   IS   DISHONORABLE,  AS  IS 

ALSO    HIS   PARTNER. 

The  Hon.  A.  M'Keller,  of  the  firm  of  M'Keller  &  Dolson, 
Chatham,  Canada  West,  was,  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  Par- 
liament, in  December,  1857,  proprietor  of  a  saw-mill  in  Kent 
County,  and  owed  his  success  in  the  canvass  to  liberal  promises, 
made  to  electors  of  all  classes  and  shades  of  color,  that,  in  the 
event  of  his  election,  he  would  use  every  endeavor  to  procure 
the  repeal  of  the  law  authorizing  imprisonment  for  debt.  As, 
during  that  fall  and  winter,  none  could  pay  their  debts,  and  the 
people  of  the  county  generally  (with  the  exception  of  those  who 
were  at  large  under  bail)  feared  that  imprisonment  might  be 
their  lot,  Mr.  M'Keller  was  elected  by  a  very  large  vote.  He  is 
tall,  stout,  has  a  long  and  sharp  nose,  and  a  fine  set  of  teeth, 
which  he  loves  to  display,  especially  when  r^-iving  a  tight  bar- 
gain. Of  Scotch  descent,  it  is  probable  he  was  born  in  Canada, 
as  he  so  well  understands  the  system  of  sharp  practice  pursued 
there.  He  considers  himself  very  smart;  but  he  is  not  quite  as 
shrewd  as  Van  Allen,  who  received  from  me  $500  for  withdraw- 
ing his  capias ;  though  he  makes  speeches  in  the  Lower  House 


m 

■n 

i 


/iiP 


# 


1    ' 


I;       h 


H        I 


■■,  (i 

li!'  :' 


li'.^l 


ili. 


t<" 


i 

ji;'  •! 
!  ii 

iii'i 

i 


36 


IMPRISONMENT   FOE   DKBT 


which  by  some  are  considered  passable.  He  will  tell  his  hearers 
all  about  the  Chatham  llivor,  from  its  mouth  to  the  highest  point 
to  which  it  is  navigable ;  relate  to  them  how  the  money  was  ex- 
pended which  the  Government  appropriated  to  clearing  snags 
out  of  the  river;  detail  the  experience  of  Jonah,  whose  net 
caught  on  the  snags,  but  failed  to  catch  any  of  the  money;  be- 
side many  other  interesting  matters  connected  with  that  highly 
important  river,  which  space  will  not  allow  of  being  introduced 
here, 

Mr.  John  L.  Dolsou  is  a  very  fair-looking  specimen  of  human 
manufacture,  and  by  birth  a  full-blooded  Canadian;  but  from 
whom  his  pedigree  is  derived  I  cannot  say,  though  I  am  inclined 
to  suppose  he  was  sired  by  his  Satanic  majesty,  as  deception  is 
a  leading  feature  in  his  character.  Notwithstanding  the  sulphu- 
rous nature  of  his  supposed  connexions,  he  is  a  strong  pillar  of 
the  church,  though  slightly  inclined  to  be  avaricious;  and  if 
there  be  any  truth  in  the  revelations  of  phrenology,  there  is  no 
doubt  of  his  inclination  to  covetousness  —  the  round  face  and 
heavy  bull-dog  features  being  indicative  of  a  propensity  to  de- 
vour. It  is  related  of  him  that,  wlien  he  sells  half-inch  boards, 
he  measures  them  on  both  sides,  whereby  he  gets  paid  for  double 
the  number  of  feet;  but  in  buying  he  counts  two  half-inch  as 
one  one-inch  board,  and  thus  pays  for  but  one-half  the  amount 
he  really  buys.  He  is  a  Christian  —  he  twice  visited  me  in  pri- 
son, and  both  times  reprimanded  me  for  not  summoning  a  meet- 
ing of  my  arresting  creditors  in  my  cell,  and  surrendering  to 
them  everything  I  owned.    '  ^  -'    ='-^^     "-  •    • 

Now,  these  two  men,  who  were  themselves  bankrupt,  and  had 
signed  a  cognovit  for  $40,000,  put  their  heads  together  to  con- 
coct a  scheme  by  which  they  could  secure  the  trifling  amount 
that  I  owed  them,  and  intimated  that  I  was  devoid  of  any 
honorable  principles ;  though,  in  all  my  dealings  with  them  during 
three  seasons  previous,  I  had  never  failed  to  pay  cash,  as  I  agreed. 
As  the  man  who  claimed  the  title  of  Honorable  (a  misnomer) 


I 


IN   THE   CANADAS. 


u  \ 


m 


■'    ■■! 


was  considered  the  most  shrewd,  because  he  had  sueceed  in  se- 
curing a  seat  as  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Parliament,  ho  was 
deputed  by  his  partner  to  work  out  the  plot;  and  after  I  had 
Iain  in  jail  about  one  month,  the  Hon.  (  !  )  gentleman  visited  me 
in  prison,  "  merely  out  of  pity."  He  gazed  around  my  room, 
glanced  at  the  hog's  nest,  called  a  bed,  which  occupied  the  floor, 
and  took  a  mental  inventory  of  the  few  other  articles  which  went 
to  make  up  the  furniture ;  after  which,  i»e  remarked  that  it  was 
a  hard-looking  place  in  which  to  confine  a  business  man  like  my- 
self, who  had  always  been  used  to  good  accomodations,  and  the 
comforts  of  a  home,  with  liberty  to  go  when  and  where  I  pleased. 
He  expressed  great  sorrow  for  ray  existing  condition,  but  declared 
that  he  could  do  nothing  for  me,  u  the  law  was  very  harsh  as 
well  as  unjust;  though  he  promised  its  abolition  during  the  ap- 
proaching session  of  Parliament,  as  he  was  then  a  member,  and 
had  much  influence.  In  the  same  breath,  however,  he  consoled 
me  with  the  assurance  that  I  would  probably  be  kept  in  jail  until 
I  paid  ofl^  my  arresting  creditors,  but  disclaimed  any  intention 
of  doing  what  he  said  he  had  never  yet  stooped  to,  —  viz.: 
capias  a  debtor,  —  because  he  considered  it  a  poor  way  to  col  "  t 
a  debt.  Alluding  to  the  condition  of  my  cell,  he  said  it  was 
very  dirty,  and  that,  if  the  county  must  have  laws  for  the  im- 
prisonment of  debtors,  the  authorities  should  furnish  better  rooms 
for  the  parties  so  confined.  From  this  subject  he  passed  to  that 
of  food,  and  propounded  various  questions  relative  to  my  daily 
bill  of  fare,  and  other  matters,  which  I  surmised  were  all  in- 
tended to  sound  me  as  to  the  time  when  I  would  pay  the  cre- 
ditors who  then  had  me  under  arrest — thus  deliberately  calcu- 
lating the  period  when  he  would  have  the  supreme  pleasure  of 
again  placing  me  in  the  delightful  accommodations  I  then  en- 
joyed. To  satisfy  his  inquiring  mind,  and  furnish  him  with 
fresh  arguments  against  the  law  of  imprisonment  for  debt  when 
a  second  time  a  candidate  for  the  suffrages  of  the  dear  people,  I 
told  this  Honorable  that  my  dinner  generally  consisted  of  a  piece 


m 


i 


'       ^l 


!  ,'t 


!'  M 


II 

iiii- 


:;:  ii: 


^ii 


m 


\ '  i 


,!      i 


I 


ml' 


I  ;■  :ii 


a 


r'", 


iilML 


3» 


IMPRISONMENT  FOB  DEBT 


of  the  leg  of  an  old  ox,  cut  off  just  above  the  gambril  joint,  and 
which  had  been  whipped,  or  pounded  with  the  butt  end  of  a  gad, 
until  it  was  as  hard  and  tough  as  a  sinner  (sinew).  This  piece 
of  leg  was  usually  heated  cleverly  through  in  a  stove-oven,  and 
then  served  up  with  a  few  potatoes,  a  little  gutta-percha  bread, 
and  occasionally  a  trifle  of  good  butter,  though  more  frequently 
bad  supplied  its  place.  The  bread  was  made  by  contract,  and 
the  meat,  vegetables,  etc.,  furi^||ied  in  the  same  way;  but,  as 
the  lowest  bidder  always  secures  the  job,  it  is  very  evident  that 
the  fare  must  necessarily  be  of  a  miserable  character;  for  no  ono 
will  give  more  than  an  equivalent  for  the  money  he  receives.  In 
order  to  make  a  large-looking  loaf,  the  bread  was  made  so  light 
and  porous  that  it  really  had  not  substance  enough  in  it  to  cast 
a  shadow  in  the  noon-day  sun,  and  dried  up  like  a  cinder  in 
half  a  day's  time.  When  it  was  fresh,  I  could  put  my  foot  on 
one  end  of  the  loaf,  and  with  my  hand  stretch  it  out  like  an 
India-rubber  belt.  The  meat,  beef  especially,  was  so  tough  that 
I  could  put  it  through  the  same  process  —  that  is,  for  the  first 
few  months  after  I  was  in  prison  —  subsequently,  I  became  so 
weak  for  lack  of  proper  food  that  I  could  stretch  neither  meat 
nor  bread.  For  supper,  we  had  a  compound  which  was  digni-  *- 
fied  by  the  name  of  tea,  sweetened  with  wet,  black  sugar,  gutta- 
percha bread,  and  butter.  Breakfast  was  a  counterpart  of  the 
supper — butter  and  gutta  percha — no  vegetables,  not  even  a  cold 
potato.  Our  steak  was  a  little  of  the  meat  left  from  the  previ-  # 
ous  day's  dinner,  served  up  with  a  saw  with  which  to  cut  it.  Oc- 
casionally we  had  a  piece  of  sheep  meat  for  dinner,  and  the  fol- 
lowing morning  some  of  it  cold  for  breakfast.  We  sometimes 
thought  that  if  we  could  only  get  a  piece  of  the  beef  just  after 
it  had  been  pounded  with  the  gad,  and  have  it  broiled  nicely  and 
served  up  with  butter  over  it,  if  it  were  poor,  it  would  be  some- 
thing of  a  rarity,  and  an  agreeable  change.  But,  although  com- 
pelled to  pay  ^3  in  cash  per  week  for  our  board,  yet  we  were 
obliged  to  take  just  what  was  given  us,  or  go  unfed,  as  we  could 


i:\A   IN   THE  OANADAS.  y.l 


89 


not  very  easily  change  our  place  of  boarding.  All  this  I  told 
the  Honorable  gentleman ;  and^  although  it  may  sound  impro- 
bable to  those  who  have  had  no  experience  of  prison  fare  in  Ca- 
nada, yet  it  is  every  word  true.  After  he  had  learned  all  he  pos- 
sibly could,  he  left  my  cell. 
«  Some  time  in  February,  1858,  before  he  went  to  Toronto  to 

take  his  seat  in  the  Parliament,  himself  and  his  partner  resolved 
to  capias  me,  in  order  to  makemre  of  receiving  their  money.  I 
am  told  that  M'Keller  done  the  swearing  for  the  firm,  aa  Dolson 
was  a  member  of  church ;  and  after  all  his  loudly-vaunted  sym- 
pathy with  suflFering  debtors,  and  his  wordy  arguments  against 
imprisonment  for  debt,  this  hypocritical  honorable  (?)  had  the 
audacity  to  make  oath  to  a  statement  which  had  no  foundation 
in  truth,  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  the  preference  given  under 
the  law  to  all  who  took  out  a  capias.  Armed  with  this  docu- 
ment, the  sheriflF  was  again  sent  to  arrest  me,  although  I  was 
then,  and  for  a  long  time  thereafter,  securely  locked  up  in  jail; 
but  in  Canada  this  is  considered  a  matter  of  little  consequence, 
and  the  administrators  of  the  law  shut  their  eyes  to  a  manifest 
violation  of  its  spirit  and  intention,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they 
extend  their  itching  palms  to  receive  the  coveted  ill-gotten  fee. 
The  reader  may  readily  see  how  much  security  there"  is  in  Ca- 
nada for  the  personal  liberty  of  any  man  who  is,  by  the  chance 
of  trade  or  other  causes,  rendered  the  debtor  of  a  soulless  Cana- 
»      dian  trader.  '  .  ^^..^  ..,...,>.,.»    j  j  .., 

The  Hon.  (dishonorable)  M' Keller  swore  I  owed  him  about 
$320 ;  and  when  the  case  came  before  the  court,  at  its  session 
in  April,  1858,  as  I  made  no  defence  (how  could  I,  when  under 
bodily  constraint  ?),  he  obtained  a  judgment  for  over  $400,  in- 
cluding costs.  Herein  consists  the  peculiar  merit  of  this  law, 
concocted  by  lawyers  for  their  own  advantage  —  when  a  man  is 
in  jail,  and  cannot  look  after  his  business,  they  take  just  what 
they  please ;  and  if  he  has  any  property  which  they  can  get  at, 
the  creditors  and  lawyers  will  legally  steal  it  from  the  helpless 


m 


m 


w 


ii|;  '! 


1 


i!!i 


■i 


II;: 'li 


'i"     I 


i;:» 


Hi::, 


i^,l  P 


n-i 


40 


^\ 


IMl'lUSONMENT   FOil    DEBT 


debtor,  and  then  kick  him  out  of  the  country.  Any  attempt  to 
obtain  redress  by  an  action  against  the  principals,  for  perjury  oi 
false  imprisonment,  would  only  result  in  a  combination  of  all  the 
the  parties  to  swear  the  debtor  into  jail  again.       ^'^  ^^  ^*'i  .4*i5^' 


4  't  t»yr    i^i  A     [ .  / 1 


A   MR.  M'LEAN, 


■■'■^Ai   ill  .1iiti;,i>^yid     jiLii.T 


*                  * 

od'u  U^, 

UlyKtd 

:>A: 

IliiyJft 

■jSj   ..J I 

.  rjl 

MR.  GEORGE   RAYMOND, 

■ 

• 

\i 

Who  held  a  claim  against  me  fjox  about  $160,  acting  under  the 
advice  of  two  men  in  whose  power  he  was,  and  who  absolutely 
ruled  him,  swore  out  a  capias  for  a  sum  exceeding  $200.  Hav- 
ing no  opposition,  he  readily  obtained  a  judgment  for  the  amount 
he  swore  to.  In  a  case  like  this,  nothing  can  be  saved  by  mak- 
ing a  defence ;  for,  if  the  sum  in  suit  does  not  exceed  $200,  the 
costs  of  trial  will  be  more  than  $100. 


Mvu  i  ih^uijdiiii  ^'JMl 


Another  zealous,  "Praise-God  Barebones"  style  of  Christian^ 
procured  me  to  endorse  the  note  of  a  third  party,  drawn  to  Ray- 
mond's order,  and  by  him  endorsed  j  after  which  he  had  it  dis- 
counted. This  note,  for  which  I  received  nothing,  was  not  paid 
at  maturity,  and  the  holder  sued  it  out,  and  collected  the  amount 
from  Raymond.  I  have  been  informed  that  Raymond  sent  the 
money,  some  $1600  or  $1700,  with  an  attorney,  to  the  holder  of  the 
execution  (though  distant  over  one  hundred  miles),  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  an  assignment  of  the  execution  when  the  latter 
was  satisfied  —  intending  to  use  it  in  collecting  the  amount  from 
me.  It  BO  happened  that  the  document  was  not  assigned,  but 
cancelled,  and  thus  rendered  useless.  Now,  observe  a  sharp 
piece  of  financiering  on  the  part  of  a  devoted  Canadian  Chris- 
tian, whose  guide  is  the  Bible,  and  who  is  supposed  to  have  at 
least  heard  of  the  precept  given  to  mankind  by  the  meek  and 
lowly  Saviour :  to  "  do  unto  others  as  we  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  us."     This  very  Raymond,  in  the  month  of  February, 


^K 


I.,  i:;^- 


IN   THE  CANADAS. 


41 


1858,  swore  out  a  capias  againat  me  for  the  amoun  of  this  note, 
and  the  costs  of  suit  and  execi*'  n;  but,  as  he  could  not  pro- 
duce any  account  in  his  books  as  evidence  of  my  indebtedness 
to  him,  when  his  case  came  before  the  court,  in  the  spring  of 
1858,  he  suffered  a  nonsuit.  I  was,  however,  imprisoned  undor 
his  capias  for  months,  without  even  the  shadow  of  a  cause,  be- 
fore I  was  discharged  from  the  tenure  of  his  claim. 


I  'X' 


a-fy' 


Ctrrf; 


rURTHER  ABOUT  MR.  HENRY  M.  MARSH,       .... 

Who  has  been  alluded  to  before,  but  whom  I  now  purpose  to 
speak  of  in  a  more  particular  manner,  as  he  is  the  man  to  whom 
I  advanced  $1982  to  help  him  out  of  his  difficulties.  He 
called  to  see  me  every  few  weeks  in  prison,  simulated  a  great 
deal  of  sorrow  for  one  who  had  aided  him  so  effectually,  and  fre- 
quently said  that  no  other  man  had  ever  done  so  much  for  him 
as  myself  He  remarked  that  it  was  very  wrong  to  imprison 
men  who  brought  so  much  money  into  the  country,  and  who  ex- 
tended so  much  assistance  to  the  people  of  Canada,  and  that  he 
would  never  be  guilty  of  doing  such  a  thing;  while,  sometimes, 
he  would  say,  "Anything  that  I  can  do  for  you  I  will  perform 
with  the  greatest  pleasure."  As  the  amount  I  owed  him  was 
small,  I  really  thought  he  was  sincere  in  his  professions  and  of- 
fers; and  this  deception  he  continued  until  May,  1858;  at  which 
time  I  had  been  in  jail  nearly  six  months. 

About  this  time  he  called  on  me,  and  said  that  if  I  would 
give  him  a  due-bill  for  $500  to  square  our  account,  he  would  go 
to  Mr.  Evans,  who  held  some  notes  received  by  me  from  Mr.  S. 
Boushey  (and  which  he  had  been  directed  to  apply  to  the  pay- 
ment of  such  parties  as  I  designated),  obtain  $200  of  those  notes, 
and  credit  that  amount  on  the  due-bill ;  but  on  the  balance  he 
assured  me  that  I  might  have  two  years'  time.  In  order  to  close 
my  account  with  him,  I  did  as  he  desired ;  when,  instead  of  go- 
ing to  Mr.  Evans,  he  proceeded  directly  to  the  office  of  a  lawyer, 
4* 


12 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


I, 


|l> 


^h 


M 


11 


had  a  capias  drawn  up  for  the  full  amount  of  the  due-bill,  took 
the  necessary  oath,  and  the  following  day  the  sheriff  served  the 
writ  on  me  in  prison.  I  put  in  no  defcnee,  and,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  Marsh  procured  a  judgment  for  8050  —  the  face  of  the 
due-bill,  with  costs. 

This  is  another  speoimen  of  Canadian  honor  and  Canadian 
reliability.  What  safety  or  security  is  there  for  either  person  or 
property  in  Canada,  when  matters  are  conducted  in  this  infamous 
manner  ? — when  sneaking,  hypocritical  scoundrels,  like  the  scamp 
just  mentioned,  are  allowed  to  imprison  honest  men  from  one 
session  of  court  to  another,  unless  they  pay  what  these  extor- 
tioners choose  to  demand,  and  when  yillanous  lawyers,  like 
M'Crea  and  many  others,  can  be  found,  to  aid  and  abet  a  set  of 
swindling  vagabonds  in  their  operations?  -*  -■•   '-  ^— -  - 

After  Mr.  Marsh  procured  his  judgment,  as  his  capias  was  no 
longer  a  detainer  upon  me,  he  obtained  a  writ  of  capias  ad  satis- 
faciendum, which  empowered  him  to  keep  me  in  jail  for  three 
months  longer ',  and  in  order  to  do  this,  the  creditor  is  obliged 
to  swear  that  his  debtor  is  about  to  secrete  his  property,  with 
the  view  of  defrauding  his  creditors  generally,  and  himself  in 
particular  —  which  I  had  not  the  power  to  do  if  I  wished ;  for 
I  was  locked  up  in  so  secure  a  manner  that  any  such  act  on  my 
part  would  have  been  an  impossibility.  Twice  did  this  villain 
perjure  himself  in  furtherance  of  his  effort^  to  persecute  his  for- 
mer benefactor,  besides  expending  his  money  for  that  purpose 
—  for  a  ca.  sa.  costs  five  per  cent,  on  the  face  of  the  debt,  with 
the  costs  of  previous  suit  added.  The  ca.  sa.  which  B.  J.  M'Id- 
tyre  served  on  me  cost  him  a  trifle  over  $200. 


OFFERS   MADE  TO   MY  CREDITORS  —  HOW  RECEIVED. 


'iHil 


When  first  cast  into  prison  by  MMntyre,  Harper,  M'Crea,  & 
Co.,  —  for  the  latter  were  accessories  both  before  and  after  the 
fact, — I  was  content  to  sit  in  my  cell,  and  gaze  out  of  my  one  win- 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


48 


dow,  covered  with  irou  bars,  at  a  high  stono  wall,  which  dark- 
ened my  room  very  much,  except  when  the  sun  shone  brightly. 
After  a  couple  of  weeks  had  elapsed,  my  persecutor  came  to  see 
me,  supposing  that  ho  would  then  have  no  difficulty  in  procuring 
his  $0000 ;  and  he  brought  with  him  a  witness,  as  did  all  tho 
others,  to  watch  for  and  cutch  any  words  that  might  give  them 
u  chance  of  still  further  torturing  mc.  M'Intyro  inquired  what 
I  hud  made  up  my  mind  to  do.  I  replied  that  1  would  carry 
out  my  agreement  with  tlio  holder  of  the  notes — John  G.  Har- 
per, agent  of  a  Canada  bank.  Ho  answered  that  neither  the 
bank  nor  its  agents  would  receive  Mr.  Boushey's  notes  as  secu- 
rity for  the  value  of  a  York  shilling  on  the  dollar;  but  that  I 
must  pay  him  $0000  in  cash.  I  denied  owing  him  the  amount 
named,  and  said  that  I  would  not  pay  it  to  him  if  I  had  tho 
money  then  11-  hand ;  whereupon,  by  way  of  retort,  he  threatened 
mo  with  being  compelled  to  remain  in  jail  until  I  did  pay,  and 
took  his  leave  of  mo  with  that  comforting  assurance.        -'  - 

It  was  supposed  that,  when  Mr.  Van  Allen  served  his  capias 
on  me,  I  would  become  so  much  alarmed  that  I  would  make  stre- 
nuous efforts  to  raise  the  means  necessary  to  liquidate  the  claims 
against  rae  which  they  had  respectively  sworn  to.  I  have  been 
informed  that  some  of  my  creditors,  who  were  anxiously  waiting 
until  I  had  settled  with  the  two  who  had  first  issued  capiases 
against  me,  met  nightly  at  a  certain  drinking-saloon,  together 
with  M'Intyre  (though  he  lived  four  miles  out  from  Chatham) 
and  Walter  M'Crea  (the  scheming  lawyer),  and,  over  their  cups, 
exulted  at  their  success  in  cooping  up  the  Yankee,  as  well  as  the 
pro'^pect  of  soon  fingering  a  large  amount  of  cash.  This  mutual 
congratulation  society  kept  up  its  meetings  for  about  two  weeks ; 
when,  the  individual  and  collective  credit  of  the  members  be- 
coming exhausted,  the  association  was  dissolved,  in  accordance 
with  the  suggestion  of  the  landlord.  At  this  time  they  supposed, 
and  ventured  to  assert,  that  the  Yankee  (myself)  could  not  hold 
out  another  night,  and  that  the  battle  would  be  speedily  termi- 


f 


i 


I 


44 


IMI'IIISONMKNT   FOR   DKlll 


n 


h'  ' 


r^y 


I ) 


h 


I|,IH' 


!r  ii 


'! 


natcil  as  to  the  largest  amounts  in  controversy.  Tlioir  plan  of 
operations  was,  to  serve  a  capias  every  second  or  third  week,  to 
frighten  inc,  and  lead  me  to  suppose  it  was  their  intention  to 
hold  mo  in  jail  for  years ;  though  they  were  careful  to  keep  a 
reserve  in  readiness  to  arrest  and  re-imprison  me,  in  easel  settled 
with  thoso  who  had  capiased  me  previously.  Had  the  lawyer, 
M'Crea,  been  as  shrewd  as  ho  claimed  to  be,  he  would  have  ad- 
vised his  clients  to  commence  with  small  amounts,  which  were 
within  the  scope  of  my  ability  to  pay,  and  reserve  tho  heavy 
sums  for  a  final  attack;  when  they  could  have  held  me  until  1, 
or  my  friends,  were  compelled  to  buy  them  off.  '        ■ 

Finding  that  the  money  wo^  not  forthcoming,  they  held  a 
grand  pow-wow,  which  resulted  in  sending  a  deputation  to  tho 
jail  to  sound  me  as  to  my  intentions ;  but  1  told  these  people 
very  plainly  that  I  had  not  the  money  with  which  to  settle  tho 
amounts  I  owed  them,  and  that  I  had  determined  not  to  procure 
it.  "  If  you  have  not  the  cash,"  said  they,  '•  and  cannot  procure 
it,  you  have  got  friends  in  Albany,  who  can  assist  you  to  raise 
the  requisite  amount."  To  which  I  replied,  that,  if  I  had  friends 
able  and  willing  to  help  me,  I  would  reserve  thorn  for  a  better 
cause  than  that  of  procuring  money  for  men  whoso  conduct  to 
me  had  been  marked  by  the  most  shameless  duplicity  and  heart- 
less villany.  They  then  accused  me  of  a  design  not  to  pay  them 
their  just  due ;  but  I  promptly  met  this  charge  by  telling  them 
that  I  had  in  my  store  at  Vienna,  Elgin  County,  $8000  worth 
of  saleable  goods,  which,  with  §2000  of  good  debts,  and  the 
notes  received  from  Stephen  Boushey,  in  amount  $3462, 1  would 
make  over  to  them  as  collateral  security  for  the  suras  for  which 
they  should  obtain  judgment  against  me  on  trial  in  the  proper 
court,  provided  they  did  not  settle  with  me,  and  ascertain  the 
true  state  of  our  accounts;  and  that  they  might,  under  this  ar- 
rangement, put  a  receiver  in  my  store,  to  take  charge  of  the 
daily  receipts  from  sales,  as  well  as  the  collections  on  notes  and 
book  accounts.     At  the  same  time,  I  gave  them  to  understand 


IN    TIIK    CAN  ADAS. 


that  sucli  of  my  creditors  ns  would  bo  likely  to  make  costs  and 
impriHon  mo  must  become  pnrtioH  to  the  nrrutijijcment,  when  I 
should  be  Hct  ut  liberty,  und  allowed  to  attend  to  my  business  n.s 
usual. 

This  proposition  was  canvassed  by  my  creditors  and  the  ccle- 
hrated  lawyer  of  Chatham,  Walter  M'Crca;  who,  being  ns  rough 
in  speech  as  ho  was  beared  in  conscience,  advised  them  not  to 
trouble  themselves  with  either  debts,  notes,  or  goods,  and  conti- 
nued, "Damn  liim,  hold  on;  ho  is  a  man  of  too  much  business 
to  lay  in  jail  for  80000  or  $8000.  You  hold  on  to  the  Yankee, 
und  the  money  will  come  from  friends  of  his,  if  lie  has  not  got 
it."    '*!     .  }   f  . ..  ,.. 

For  more  than  ono  month  I  did  all  I  could  to  persuade  them 
to  take  a  course  which  would  have  been  to  their  advantage ;  but, 
finding  that  all  my  eiforts  to  get  them  to  take  security,  and  re- 
store to  me  that  Liberty  which  is  the  right  of  every  true  and  just 
"  Xative  American  j"  and  finding,  also,  that  I  could  not  procure 
frt)m  any  of  them  a  statement  of  my  existing  account,  by  which 
I  could  ascertain  what  I  really  did  owe  them  on  the  summer's 
work,  I  made  up  my  mind  that,  IVoni  the  comnjeneeiuent,  it  had 
been,  and  still  was,  their  intention  to  make  mc  the  victim  of  a 
foul  Canadian  plot.  With  this  view  of  the  case  in  my  mind,  I 
wrote  to  my  creditors  in  the  United  States,  and  those  of  them  in 
Canada  who  had  used  me  fairly,  stated  to  them  candidly  my  real 
situation,  and  presented  an  exhibit  of  my  available  means,  at  the 
same  time  informing  them  that  I  could  sell  property  and  take 
notes  as  long  as  my  creditors  held  my  body  without  having  taken 
out  an  execution  against  the  former — there  being  no  law  to  pre- 
vent my  so  doing.  I  offered  to  divide  my  property  among  them, 
and  to  take  my  chanco  of  life  or  death  in  a  Canada  jail  j  but 
many  of  my  creditors  in  the  States  wrote  me  to  transfer  my  pro- 
perty to  my  creditors  in  Canada,  if  I  could  thereby  secure  my 
liberty;  saying  that  they  would  wait  for  their  money  until  such 
time  as  T  would  be  able  to  cancel  their  claims.     My  Canadian 


1  y\ 
( 


?  ii 


m 

% 
I 


I! 


li 


.^1 

I' 'I 


I    1' ■ 


nii 


,'11! 

}  ■'■■ ! 


iiiliiih 


!i    i 


ii     ii 


|;::    " 


4A 


IMPRISONMENT  FOB   DEBT 


creditors  had,  however,  in  addition  to  arresting  and  swearing 
falsely  against  me,  conducted  themselves  in  such  a  very  con- 
temptible manner,  that  I  would  not  again  renew  my  offer,  so  fre- 
quently refused,  but  decided  in  my  own  mind  that  they  were 
not  entitled  to,  and  should  not  receive,  one  dollar  of  what  they 
claimed.  So  I  sold  my  property  through  agents,  and  paid  the 
proceeds  over  to  my  fair-dealing  and  merciful  creditors.         >  «•< 


m'intyre's  folly 


*^'  Daniel  R.  Van  Allen  received  $500  on  account  of  his  claim, 
while  my  other  arresting  creditors  preferred  to  keep  me  in  jail, 
and  torture  me,  as  if  I  were  a  felon,  rather  than  accept  a  pro 
rata  per  centage  in  common  with  others,  after  they  had  i^efused 
full  security  for  the  indebtedness  they  could  establish  by  proper 
testimony  in  a  court  of  justice.  Of  my  creditors  in  Canada, 
Gardiner  &  Gibb,  Sicklested,  Martin,  and  others,  who  kept  quiet, 
received  the  larger  part  of  their  due,  though  for  nearly  eight 
months  I  kept  $1900  for  M'Intyre;  but,  as  he  refused  to  accept 
it  on  account  of  his  claim,  I  divided  the  amount  among  those  of 
my  creditors  who  would  receive  it,  and  thus  closed  out  all  my 
available  means.  M'Intyre  had  friends  (not  lawyers)  who  ad- 
vised him  to  take  the  money,  and  told  him  that  he  could  do  no 
better ;  but  he  averred  that  he  would  either  have  all  or  nothing, 
and  protested  that  he  would  keep  me  in  jail  from  July  until  the 
end  of  time.  *      mriM%  i  tiif^s  i 


r^  M  INTYRE  S    CONSULTATION   WITH   A   GIPSY. 

In  Canada,  as  in  many  other  countries  of  the  world,  may  be 
found,  during  the  summer,  a  wandering  class  of  people,  called 
gipsies,  who  travel  from  place  to  place ;  each  family  generally 
comprising  a  man,  a  woman,  and  a  number  of  children.  Their 
conveyance  is  generally  an  old  wagon,  drawn  by  a  very  ancient 


IN    THE   0ANADA8.   -Hi 


m 


horse;  and  this  wagon  not  only  serves  as  an  eating-rooiu  during 
the  day,  but  at  night  it  is  the  dormitory  for  the  entire  party, 
who  stow  themselves  promiscuously  away,  either  in  or  under  it. 
The  men  are  mostly  tinkers,  who  mend  old  and  make  some  new 
tin-ware,  which  the  children  sell  in  the  neig  borhoods  where 
they  stop ;  while  the  women  tell  fortunes,  procure  the  fuel,  cook 
the  victuals,  etc.  M'Intyre  travelled  six  miles  to  consult  one  of 
these  wise  women  as  to  the  probability  of  obtaining  the  amount 
of  his  claim  from  me.  It  is  alleged  that  she  told  him  to  take 
what  I  was  willing  to  give  him,  or  he  would  never  obtain  any- 
thing; but  he  rejected  her  counsel,  though  it  cost  him  one  dol- 
lar, which  I  suppose  he  charged  to  the  debtor  side  of  the  profit 
and  loss  account.  After  this  statement,  the  reader  will  not  won- 
der at  the  description  I  gave  of  Mr.  M'Intyre  in  the  introductory 
notice  of  that  highly  intelligent  and  honorable  (?)  individual. 


FALSITY    or     THE     REI'ORTED    ABOLITION    OF    IMPRISONMENT 

FOR    TEST, 


ii 


Before  the  adjournment  of  Parliament,  in  the  spring  or  sum- 
mer of  1858,  two  or  three  amendments  were  made  to  the  law 
authorizing  imprisonment  for  debt,  with  the  view  of  quieting 
the  public  clamor  against  it  at  home,  and  removing  an  impres- 
sion which  had  gained  ground  in  the  States  —  and  with  good 
reason — that  the  laws  of  the  Canadas  were  directed  solely  to  the 
oppression  and  persecution  of  those  who  produced  the  wealth  of 
the  country.  These  amendments  went  into  effect  on  the  1st  of 
September,  1858,  and  the  lawyers,  traders,  etc.,  immediately  in- 
terested, published  false  statements  through  the  newspapers,  to 
the  effect  that  imprisonment  for  debt  had  been  abolished ;  which 
were  believed  throughout  the  United  States,  and  are  still  credited 
by  many  persons  in  the  Canadas.  In  this  report  there  was  not 
a  shadow  of  truth,  as  I  know  from  my  own  observation ;  having 
seen  men  brought  into  jail  at  midnight,  who  were  arrested  under 


IMHUSONMENT   I'Oll  DEBT 


' 


!/!< 


t:..    y 


W- 


that  law,  eight  months  after  it  was  said  to  have  been  abolished. 
One  of  these  men  was  pheed  in  the  same  cell  with  myself,  in 
April  or  May  of  1859,  in^bbedienco  to  an  order  of  Judge  Wells, 
the  judicial  oflSccr  for  the  county  of  Kent.  The  manner  in 
which  it  was  effected  I  will  explain  in  another  place. 


r-U*. 


¥i' 


.'■/,fi. 


THE  NEW  LAW  COMPARED  WITH  THE  OLD. 


Having  before  spoken  of  the  manner  in  which  proceedings 
were  conducted  under  the  old  law,  I  will  not  again  go  over  the 
same  ground,  but  proceed  at  once  to  quote  from  the  Act  passed 
and  approved  August  IG,  1858,  the  24th  Section  of  which  says, 
"  In  citing  this  Act  in  any  instrument,  document,  or  proceeding, 
it  shall  be  sufficient  tp  use  the  expression,  *The  Act  for  the  abo- 
lition of  imprisonment  for  debt.' "  A  few  extracts  from  the 
law,  as  published  by  authority  of  Parliament,  and  printed  by  the 
public  printer,  will  exhibit  it  in  its  true  light.  The  2d  Section 
is  thus  worded : 

"If  any  party  or  plaintiff,  being  a  creditor  of  or  having  a 
cause  of  action  against  any  person  now  liable  to  arrest,  whether 
upon  the  order  of  a  judge  or  without  such  order,  shall,  by  the 
affidavit  of  himself  or  of  some  other  individual,  show  to  the  sa- 
tisfaction of  a  judge  of  either  of  the  Superior  Courts  of  Com- 
mon Law  at  Toronto,  that  such  party  or  plaintiff  has  a  cause  of* 
action  against  such  person  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  pounds 
or  upwards,  or  has  sustained  damage  to  that  amount,  and  shall 
also  by  affidavit  show  such  facts  and  circumstances  as  shall  satisfy 
the  said  judge  that  there  is  good  and  probable  cause  for  believ- 
ing that  such  person,  unless  he  be  forthwith  apprehended,  is 
about  to  quit  Canada  with  intent  to  defraud  his  creditors  gene- 
rally, or  the  said  party  or  plaintiff  in  particular,  it  shall  be  law- 
ful for  any  such  judge,  by  a  special  order,  to  direct  that  the  per- 
son against  whom  such  application  shall  be  made,  so  about  to 
quit  Canada  with  intent  as  aforesaid,  shall  bo  held  to  bail  for 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


t,"  I 


m 


gene- 


such  sum  as  such  judge  shall  think  fit,  aud  thereupon  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  such  party  or  plaintiff,  within  the  time  which  shall  be 
expressed  in  such  order,  but  not  afterwards,  to  sue  out  a  writ  of 
capias  and  one  or  more  concurrent  writs  of  capias,  in  either  of 
the  said  Superior  Courts,  against  the  person  so  directed  to  be 
held  to  bail."  ."-v  2^^j  ■:ft;*ir.:. 

From  this,  it  will  seem  that,  in  order  to  imprison  a  man  under 
this  double-headed  law,  it  is  only  necessary  to  make  oath  before 
a  judge  of  any  County  Court,  or  either  of  the  Superior  Courts 
at  Toronto.  This  can  be  done  by  either  the  principal  or  his 
agent,  or  he  may  make  a  sham  sale  of  the  debt  to  some  worth- 
less individual,  who,  for  a  consideration,  will  make  the  required 
oath,  an;.  ^hr7S  screen  the  principal  from  an  action  for  damages. 
If  the  J  !a  ':«'■  is  satisfied  with  the  oath  of  the  party  who  applies 
for  the  capias,  he  will  issue  the  document  upon  the  payment  of 
$10 ;  but  if  the  fee  is  laid  down  by  the  party  on  entering  the 
office  of  the  judge,  he  will  meet  with  but  little  difficulty  in  pro- 
curing what  he  desires.  In  Canada,  a  fee  of  $10  will  convince 
any  lawyer  or  judge  that  the  debtor  is  about  to  abscond.       ,  v ,,, 

Under  the  old  law,  after  a  debtor  had  lain  in  jail  until  the  cre- 
ditor obtained  a  judgment,  and  an  execution  was  issued,  the 
debtor  was  then  released  if  any  goods  were  found  to  seize ;  but 
if  no  goods  were  obtainable,  the  creditor  then  procured  a  ca.  sa., 
by  swearing  that  his  debtor  was  secreting  his  property  with  a 
view  to  defraud.  Armed  with  this  writ,  the  sheriff"  arrested  the 
debtor  while  yet  in  custody,  and,  as  a  punishment  for  the  alleged 
attempt  to  defraud  his  creditors,  placed  him  in  close  confinement 
for  a  period  of  three  months.  This  course  stopped  the  debtor 
from  making  an  assignment,  and  taking  the  preliminary  steps 
necessary  to  procure  his  discharge ;  which  could  then  only  be 
obtained  by  paying  the  creditor  the  full  amount  of  his  claim,  or 
alleged  claim,  in  cash,  with  all  the  costs  of  suit,  etc.       .    '    - 

Under  the  amended  Act  of  1858,  a  debtor  may,  after  he  is 
arrested  under  a  ca.  sa.,  make  an  assignment  at  once,  and  apply 

I) 


■  1 


m 


a 
li 


i.i 


5 


m 


Si'      I 

tf' 


50 


IMnUSONMENT   FOR   DKItT 


for  his  discharge  J  which  will  bo  given  reluctantly,  even  after 
the  necessary  examination  has  been  instituted,  and  judges  as  well  ' 
as  creditors  thoroughly  satisfied  that  the  poor  debtor  has  been 
stripped  of  everything,  besides  being  nearly  starved  to  death  by 
his  jailor.  This  process  usually  consumes  from  two  to  six  months' 
tiu>e,  varying  with  the  amount  of  the  debt,  and  the  willingness 
of  the  judge  to  allow  the  creditor  to  hold  his  debtor  for  further 
and  more  searching  examination.  Another  amendment  places 
the  sum  for  which  arrest  can  be  made  at  $100,  while  under  the  old 
law  it  was  $40 ;  but  in  this  case  there  is  very  little  chance  loft 
for  the  debtor,  as,  if  a  creditor  wishes  to  vent  his  Rj)leen  on  his 
debtor,  he  can  readily  purchase  the  claims  of  other  parties,  or 
have  them  transferred  by  a  sham  bill  of  sale,  and  thus  acquire 
the  power  of  gratifying  his  malignity. 

Referring  to  the  so-called  "Act  for  abolishing  arrest  in  civil 
actions  in  certain  cases,"  I  will  quote  extracts  from  diflferent  sec- 
tions of  the  law,  by  which  the  reader  will  see  that  itnprisonment 
for  debt  is  still  in  full  force  in  the  Canadas,  notwithstanding  any- 
thing lawyers  or  journals  may  say  to  the  contrary.  Section  4th 
recites  that       - ,  t  •  . : ;      ; 

"It  shall  bo  lawful  for  the  plaintiflf,  after  the  commencement 
of  any  action  by  writ  of  summons,  but  hr/ore  judgment^  vpon 
ohtaininy  a  Jinhje's  order  for  that  purpose  in  the  manner  pro- 
vided for  in  the  2d  Section  of  this  Act,  to  sue  out  of  the  office 
whence  such  summons  issued  a  writ  of  capias,  and  one  or  more 
coucwrent  icrits,  in  manner  directed  by  "  the  Common  Law  Pro- 
cedure Act,  1856,"  which  writ  of  capias,  in  every  such  case, 
shall  be  in  the  form  contained  in  Schedule  (A)  to  the  said  Act, 
annexed  and  marked  No.  G,  and  may  be  directed  to  the  sheriff 
of  any  county  or  union  of  counties  in  Upper  Canada,  and  so 
many  copies  of  such  writ,  with  every  memorandum  or  notice 
subscribed  thereto,  and  all  endorsements  thereon,  as  there  may 
he  persons  intended  to  he  arrcatid  thereon,  shall  be  delivered  with 
such  writ  to  the  sheriff  or  otber  officer  who  may  have  the  execu- 


[4 


IxV   THE  CANADAS.  i 


Uk 


61 


tion  or  return  thereof,  and  wlio  shall,  immediately  upon  or  after 
the  execution  thereof,  cause  one  such  copy  to  be  delivered  to 
every  person  upon  whom  such  process  shall  be  executed  by  him, 
and  shall  endorse  upon  such  writ  the  true  day  of  the  execution 
thereof,  within  three  days  at  farthest  after  such  execution ;  and 
the  proceedings  in  any  such  action  may  be  carried  on  to  judg- 
ment without  regard  to  the  issuing  of  such  capias,  or  to  any  pro- 
ceedings in  any  way  arising  from  or  dependent  thereon ;  and  on 
entering  judgment,  the  plainti£f  shall  be  entitled  to  tax  the  costs 
of  such  writ  or  writs  of  capias,  and  the  proceedings  thereon,  in 
like  manner  as  if  the  suit  had  been  originally  commenced  by  ca- 
pias, together  with  the  other  costs  incurred  and  taxable  in  the 


cause. 


)} 


i  .i\i 


a  ■'. 


Section  5  directs  that  the  sheriff  must  arrest  the  defendant 
within  two  months  from  the  date  of  writ. 

Section  6  directs  how  a  ca.  sa.  may  be  obtained.  It  reads 
thus :  v>t,.., 

"  In  cases  in  which  the  defendant  has  been  held  to  special  bail 
upon  a  writ  of  capias  issued  on  a  judge's  order  made  une.or  this 
Act,  it  shall  not  he  necessm'i/,  be/ore  suiny  out  a  writ  of  capias 
ad  satisfaciendum,  to  obtain  a  Judge's  order  for  the  issuing 
thererf  or  to  make  or  fie  any  other  or  further  affidavit  than 
that  upon  which  the  order  authorizing  the  defendant's  arrest  was 
obtained  in  the  first  instance;  but  where  the  defendant  has  not 
been  so  held  to  special  bail,  if  the  plaintiff  in  the  action  shall, 
by  the  affidavit  of  himself  or  some  other  party,  show  to  the  sa- 
tisfaction of  a  judge  of  either  of  the  said  Superior  Courts  of 
Common  Law,  that  he  has  recovered  judgment  against  the  de- 
fendant for  the  sum  of  twenty-five  pounds  or  upwards,  exclusive 
of  costs,  and  shall  also  by  affidavit  show  such  facts  and  circuui- 
eumstances  as  shall  satisfy  the  said  judge  that  there  is  good  and 
probable  cause  for  believing  either  that  the  defendant,  unless  he 
be  forthwith  apprehended,  is  about  to  quit  Canada  with  intent  to 
defraud  his  creditors  generally  or  the  said  plaintiff  in  particular, 


i 


5* 


52 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


II    i'i  ,1 


or  that  the  defendant  hath  parted  with  his  property,  or  raade 
some  secret  or  fraudulent  conveyance  thereof,  in  order  to  prevent 
its  being  taken  in  execution,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  such  judge, 
by  a  special  order,  to  direct  that  a  capias  ad  mtisfacievdum 
may  be  issued,  and  a  writ  of  capias  ad  satisfaciendum  may 
thereupon  be  issued  upon  such  judgment  according  to  the  prac- 
tice now  in  force  in  the  said  Superior  Courts." 

Section  8  states  the  manner  of  procuring  a  discharge  from 
custody  by  application  to  the  proper  court,  which  may,  in  its  dis- 
cretion, discharge  or  hold  the  defendant;  "but,"  continues  an 
appended  proviso,  "  any  such  order  made  by  a  judge  may  be  dis- 
charyed  or  varied  by  the  court,  on  application  made  thereto  by 
cither  party  dissatisfied  with  such  order."  It  will  readily  be  in- 
ferred that  this  proviso  has  been  made  with  a  view  of  bene- 
fitting the  creditor,  and  to  aid  him  in  detaining  his  debtor  in 
prison  as  long  as  he  wishes,  as  will  be  seen  in  Section  9,  which 
reads, 

"  Every  prisoner  who,  at  the  time  appointed  for  the  commence- 
went  of  this  Act,  shall  be  in  custody,  or  on  hail  upon  mesne  process, 
for  any  debt  or  demand,  shall  be  entitled  to  be  discharged  upon 
entering  a  common  appearance  to  the  action  ;  provided,  neverthe- 
less, that  every  such  prisoner  shall  be  liable  to  be  detained,  or 
after  such  discharge  to  be  again  arrested,  by  virtue  of  any  such 
special  order,  as  aforesaid,  at  the  suit  of  the  plaintiff  at  whose 
suit  he  was  previously  arrested,  or  by  any  other  plaintifi^."         '> 

All  the  modes  above  detailed  of  obtaining  process  being  some- 
what tedious,  a  more  expeditious  method  is  marked  out  by  Sec- 
tion 10,  in  the  following  words:      ''  "■^^  **  '   -'"^   '  *' -  «  f    ' 

"In  order  to  provide  a7i  expeditious  mode  of  obtain  in  f/  pro- 
cess for  the  arrest  of  persons,  and  for  their  discharge  if  unduly 
ttrrested,  in  cases  where  process  is  intended  to  be  sued  out,  or  Jin 
action  has  been  commenced  in  either  of  the  Superior  Courts,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  judge  or  the  acting  judge  of  any  county 
court  to  make  such  order  as  is  mentioned  in  the  2d  and  4th  Sec- 


IN    THE  CANADAS. 


53 


tions  of  thia  Act,  on  the  application  of  any  party,  or  on  tlio  ap- 
plication of  any  plaintiff  in  any  cause  in  cither  of  Her  Majesty's 
Superior  Courts  of  Common  Law  at  Toronto,  upon  the  Bamc 
grounds  and  in  the  same  manner  as  a  judge  of  the  said  Superior 
Courts  might:  and  such  county  judge  or  acting  judge  as  afore- 
said shall  have  all  tho  powo^^  given  by  this  Act  to  a  judge  of  the 
said  Superior  Court  la  x^  ■■ot  to  the  makir/  .ch  orders  as 
aforesaid."  ■  ■     '^  - 

In  case  of  application  by  the  defendant  for  a  discharge  from 
custody.  Section  11  provides  that 

"  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  plaintiff,  at  his  option,  to  cause 
such  debtor  to  be  examined  vivd  voce,  upon  oath,  before  the 
judge  of  the  County  Court  in  the  county  in  which  such  debtor 
is  confined,  or  before  some  one  to  be  appointed  in  that  behalf  by 
such  county  judge,  upon  and  touching  all  or  any  of  the  matters 
aforesaid;  and  such  county  judge  may  issue  an  order  to  the  she- 
riff or  jailor  having  the  custody  of  such  debtor,  to  bring  such 
debtor  before  him,  or  before  some  person  to  be  named  in  such 
order,  for  the  purpose  of  being  so  examined ;  and  it  shall  be  law- 
ful for  such  sheriff  or  jailor  to  take  such  debtor  before  such 
judge  or  person  as  aforesaid,  for  examination  under  the  authority 
of  this  Act,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  such  sheriff  or  jailor  were 
acting  in  obedience  to  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ad  testificandum" 

Section  13  directs  how  a  judgment  creditor  may  make  appli- 
cation to  have  his  debtor  examined  as  to  his  property,  and  thus 
continues:  ^;'!    j^k— >-'Mi-9  ;r»i-''Ms;ni'?.f  «h  c  h-u  ,!'••>   'xu   ■'■■• 

"  If  it  shall  appear  from  such  examination  that  such  debtor  hag 
concealed  or  made  away  with  his  property  in  order  to  defeat  or 
to  defraud  his  creditors,  or  any  of  them,  such  court  or  judge  may 
order  such  debtor  to  he  committed  to  the  common  jail  of  the  count y 
in  which  he  resides,  for  any  time  not  exceeding  twelve  months,  or  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  any  such  court  or  judge,  by  rule  or  order,  to 
direct  that  a  writ  of  capias  ad  satisfaciendum  may  be  issued 
against  such  debtor,  and  a  writ  of  capias  ad  satisfaciendum  may 
5* 


I 


li'-i; 


IT 


54 


IMPRISONMENT  POR  DEBT 


'    I 

•■■i 

I  111   I 


thereupon  bo  i.saucd  upon  such  judgment,  according  to  the  prac- 
tice now  in  force  in  the  said  Superior  Courts ;  or  in  case  such 
debtor  enjoys  the  benefit  of  the  jail  limits,  such  court  or  judge 
may  make  a  rule  or  order  for  such  debtor's  being  committed  to 
dose  custodi/y  under  the  307th  Section  of  the  Common  Law  Pro- 
cedure Act,  185G." 

I  think  I  have  hero  given  a  sufficient  number  of  extracts  from 
the  law,  to  show  conclusively  that  the  so-called  "Act  for  abolish- 
ing arrest  in  civil  actions  "  is  a  monstrous  fraud,  designed  to  de- 
ceive, and,  by  its  title,  impress  citizens  of  the  United  States 
(and  even  the  people  of  the  Canadas)  with  the  idea  that  all  laws 
for  the  imprisonment  of  debtors  have  been  repealed.  That  such 
an  impression  has  gained  ground,  I  am  fully  satisfied  from  ob- 
servation, and  by  conversation  with  persons  on  both  sides  of  tho 
line ;  and  to  combat  this  erroneous  view,  as  well  as  to  place  the 
law  before  the  public  in  all  its  deformity,  so  that  they  may  clearly 
understand  that  its  title  is  a  fraud,  and  its  framcrs  scoundrels  of 
the  blackest  dye,  is  my  fixed  purpose,  which  I  shall  spare  no 
cfibrt  to  accomplish. 

The  several  changes  which  have  been  made  in  the  wording 
of  the  law,  and  in  its  caption,  by  successive  Parliaments,  with 
the  view  of  rendering  it  less  odious,  are  the  best  evidence  which 
can  be  adduced  of  its  unpopularity  with  the  masses.  But  no 
one  of  these  changes  has  reached  the  point  at  issue  between  the 
people  and  their  rulers — all  have  been  directed  to  a  nominal  pal- 
liation of  the  evil,  not  to  its  permanent  cure — all  have  been  ori- 
ginated with  the  purpose  of  hoodwinking  honest  but  ignorant 
constituents,  who,  deceived  by  the  publication  of  a  high-sound- 
ing title,  never  examine  the  text,  and,  with  the  alteration  in  the 
name  of  a  writ,  innocently  suppose  that  it  differs  also  in  its  ap- 
plication. In  the  winter  of  1859,  Parliament  again  amended 
the  law,  so  as  to  allow  a  debtor  who  had  been  bailed  the  range 
of  the  entire  province  of  the  Canadas,  instead  of,  as  formerly, 
confining  him  to  the  county  in  which  he  had  first  been  impri- 


IN    THE   CANADAS. 


6ft 


fioncJ.  At  the  sanio  session,  tho  title  of  the  writ  upon  wliich 
debtors  are  arrested  and  imprisoned  was  changed  from  ^' capiaa" 
to  "writ  of  attachment"  —  a  mere  "tub  to  tlic  whale;"  tho  dear 
people,  whose  votes  would  be  necessary  to  re-elect  some  of  tho 
members,  having  evinced  symptoms  of  rebellion  against  the  ty- 
ranny of  their  legislators.  Debtors  are  now  attached^  and  sent 
to  prison  j  but,  as  improvement  is  the  order  of  tho  day,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that,  at  the  coming  session,  Parliament  will 
enact  that  in  future  prisons  shall  be  styled  "  withdrawing  rooms," 
and  that  the  title  of  the  "Act  for  the  imprisonment  of  debtors  " 
shall  be  so  altered  as  to  read,  "  An  Act  for  the  withdrawal  of  per- 
sons, under  certain  circumstances,  from  the  dangers  by  which 
they  are  surrounded  in  civilized  society,  and  for  the  improvement 
of  their  physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  condition,  by  solitary 

life."  -.  ■,;^^o.'::r'-s   .,  ',<■■■ 

.  ^  "■''',  -  ■•  -    ; •  -I'  't 

THOMAS   WELCH,   A   ROOM-MATE   IN   JAIL. 

In  May,  1859,  another  debtor  was  placed  in  my  cell.  He  was 
a  native  of  Scotland,  from  which  country  he  had  emigrated  but 
about  two  years  previously,  and,  after  arriving  in  the  Canadas, 
had  formed  a  partnership  with  another  man,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  an  iron  foundry.  The  business  not  realizing  the  ex- 
pectations formed,  the  firm  became  involved  in  difficulties,  when 
the  other  partner,  taking  advantage  of  the  verdancy  of  our 
Scotch  friend,  collected  all  the  debts  he  could  which  were  owing 
to  the  firm,  and  absconded  —  well  knowing  that  they  could  not 
meet  all  their  liabilities,  and  dreading  imprisonment.  Thomas 
Welch,  however,  relying  too  much  upon  his  native  honesty 
of  purpose,  remained,  and  worked  at  his  trade  —  that  of  a  black- 
smith—  whenever  he  could  obtain  employment,  until,  on  one  oc- 
casion, being  thrown  out  of  a  situation,  he  unfortunately  re- 
marked, in  the  presence  of  others,  that  he  was  going  to  look  for 
a  job.  The  wife  of  one  of  his  creditors,  being  present,  told  her 
husband,  who  immediately  proceeded  with  her  to  the  residence 


IP 


6« 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR   DEBT 


w  . 


of  the  nearest  judge,  distant  some  twenty  miles,  where  the  hus- 
band made  oath  as  required  by  law,  and  the  wife  swore  to  what 
she  had  overheard,  as  corroborative  proof.  A  ten-dollar  bill  sa- 
tisfied the  judge  that  the  parties  before  him  testified  to  a  state- 
ment of  facts  which  warranted  the  arrest  of  the  debtor ;  where- 
upon he  issued  a  capias,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  this 
poor,  but  really  honest  man,  was  arrested,  about  11  o'clock  the 
same  night,  and  lodged  in  jail.  The  judge  did  not  deem  it  ne- 
cessary, under  the  amended  law,  that  the  creditor  should  swear 
that  his  debtor  was  about  to  quit  the  province,  but  thought  it 
sufl&cient  justification  of  his  course  that  he  had  upon  record  the 
testimony  of  a  woman,  who  had  heard  the  man  say  he  **  was  go- 
ing to  look  for  a  job."  Taking  this  case  as  a  precedent,  it  is 
dangerous  in  the  extreme  for  a  man  who  is  in  debt  to  say  that 
he  is  about  to  go  to  a  neighbor's  to  do  a  day's  work,  as,  upon  the 
oath  of  a  bystander,  he  may  be  committed  to  prison  by  order  of 
one  of  the  Dogberry  judges  who  hammer  out  the  law  for  the 
aid  and  comfort  of  brutes  and  tyrants.  I  was  discharged  from 
custody  on  the  27th  of  May,  1859  j  at  which  time  the  poor 
Scotchman  was  still  in  prison,  under  "  the  law  for  the  abolishing 
of  imprisonment  for  debt  in  the  Canadas."  i  (.i 


•M  1 


Mf.^'iij'  ;'i 


i>.;;</'W 


'niy 


•I  lis  nii.^.i-^xi'in^y'f' 


BOARD   OF   IMPRISONED   DEBTORS  —  HOW   PAID. 


iiiK 


It  is  generally  believed  that  either  the  creditor  or  the  authori- 
ties of  the  county  pay  the  expenses  of  the  debtor's  board  while 
in  jail;  but  this  is  an  erroneous  supposition.  Until  the  debtor 
makes  an  assignment  to  his  creditors  of  all  he  owns,  over  and 
above  the  little  which  the  law  allows  him  to  retain,  and  has 
passed  through  all  the  required  examinations,  and  other  modes 
of  detention  resorted  to  by  cunning,  unprincipled  lawyers,  with 
the  view  of  compelling  friends  to  come  forward  and  cancel  claims 
which  the  debtor's  assigned  property  will  not  cover,  the  law 
makes  no  provision  for  his  support  in  prison — if  he  die  of  starva- 


IN    THE    CAN  ADAS.      •«-'i 


57 


tion,  what  matter '/  it  is  legalized  murder,  and  there  is  no  one  to 
blame.  When  it  has  been  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
judge  that  the  debtor  has  been  stripped  of  all  his  moans,  and  is 
really  a  poor  devil  in  every  senso  of  the  word,  ho  directs  that 
the  creditor,  if  desirous  of  retaining  his  debtor  in  custody,  shall 
from  that  time  forth  pay  two  dollars  per  week  for  his  board. 
This  is  frequently  done,  and  men  retained  in  jail,  merely  for  the 
purpose  of  harassing  themselves  and  their  families,  when  the  cre- 
ditors are  satisfied  that  they  no  longer  own  a  single  dollar;  but 
if  the  creditor  fail  to  pay  the  two  dollars  before  9  A.  M.  on  Mon- 
day, the  jailor  will  liberate  the  debtor,  and  turn  him  into  the 
street.  No  one  can  imagine  the  extreme  suffering  undergone 
by  poor  men  who,  incarcerated  in  the  jails  of  Canada,  and  not 
having  the  means  to  pay  their  board,  are  almost  starved  to  death 
before  they  reach  that  stage  of  the  proceedings  when  the  law 
compels  the  creditor  to  pay  for  his  debtor's  food. 


m 


JOHN   HILDRETH  —  A  CASE  OF   LEGALIZED   STARVATION.    .^ 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1857,  John  Hildreth,  a  poor  man, 
was  arrested  under  a  capias,  dragged  from  his  home,  a  distance 
of  twelve  miles,  and  placed  in  Chatham  jail;  leaving  behind  him 
a  family  illy  supplied  with  the  necessaries  of  life.  His  difficul- 
ties were  occasioned  by  sickness,  and  the  death  of  some  of  his 
family ;  and  when  the  key  was  turned  on  him,  he  had  in  his  pos- 
session but  one  dollar.  Learning  that  he  was  expected  to  pro- 
vide for  his  own  maintenance,  he  handed  his  dollar  to  "  Gram- 
pus "  (Payne,  the  jailor),  who,  after  one-third  of  the  week  had 
elapsed,  informed  him  that  he  could  have  no  more  food  unless  it 
was  paid  for  in  advance.  Having  neither  money  nor  friends,  and 
the  prison  being  too  far  from  his  home  for  his  wife  to  bring  him 
provisions, — even  supposing  she  had  any  to  give  him, — this  poor 
man  was  kept  in  a  Christian  (?)  land,  and  between  the  cold 
walls  of  a  Canadian  jail  (the  superintendent  of  which  prayed  vo- 


68 


IMraiSONMENT   FOR  DEHT 


I 


*!;, 


cifcroualy  cvory  nij;ht  at  12  o'clock),  for  a  period  of  scvcnty-slx 
hours,  without  u  niorsci  of  food.  Becoming  uhirnicd  lest  ho 
should  starve,  Uildreth  told  the  turnkey  (llilliuan)  that,  if  ho 
wus  not  speedily  furnished  with  food,  he  would  break  the  win- 
dow or  the  table.  This  junior  "John  Bull,"  being  a  trained 
news-earrier,  ran  to  "Grampus,"  and  repeated  the  threats  which 
the  ftarving  man  had  made  ;  whereupon  "  Grampus,"  like  a  truo 
Canada  Christian,  seized  his  five-barrelled  moral  persuader,  and 
rushed  into  the  cell,  in  one  corner  of  which  poor  Hildreth  was 
lying  on  a  sack  of  dirty  straw,  weak  and  faint  from  want  of  food. 
The  cell  was  occupied  also  by  four  other  debtors,  likewise  half 
starved,  and  nearly  scared  to  death  at  sight  of  the  shooting-iron 
in  the  hands  of  the  brutal  jailor.  Going  up  to  Hildreth,  and 
placing  the  revolver  against  his  breast,  the  English  brute  said, 
"  If  you  break,  or  threaten  fo  break  anything,  I  will  give  you  the 
contents  of  this,  and  the  law  will  bear  mc  out  in  it."  The  very 
looks  of  this  odious  man  were  sufficient  to  frighten  any  of  the 
prisoners;  but  when  to  these  was  added  the  fearful  proximity  of 
a  five-barrelled  pistol,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  poor  unarmed,  half- 
starved  debtor  wilted  down,  and  uttered  not  a  word  by  way  of 
retort.  Had  the  brute  killed  this  man,  there  would  not  have 
been  any  punishment  meted  out  to  him ;  for  if  an  officer  kills  a 
prisoner  the  law  justifies  him  in  so  doing.  Such  is  the  position 
of  debtor  and  creditor  in  the  Canadas. 

The  sheriff,  Mr.  Mercer,  who  resided  within  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  from  the  prison,  being  informed  that  Hildreth  would  starve 
unless  something  was  done  for  him  very  shortly,  came  to  the  jail, 
and  ordered  that  one  loaf  of  the  gutta-percha  bread  should  be 
given  him  per  diem  —  though  any  ordinary  man  could  eat  two 
loaves  each  day,  together  with  the  usual  supply  of  other  kinds 
of  food.  Hildreth  was  fed  on  gutta-percha  bread,  and  water, 
from  the  14th  of  November,  1857,  until  the  18th  of  January, 
1858.  In  the  mean  time,  a  lawyer  named  M'Lean  interested 
himself  to  obtain  the  release  of  Hildreth,  who  was  clearly  un- 


I' 


jnty-six 
le»t  ho 
t,  if  ho 
he  win- 
trained 
f>  which 
e  a  true 
ler,  and 
eth  was 
of  food, 
se  half 
inp;-iron 
ith,  and 
lie  said, 
you  the 
'he  very 
■f  of  the 
nuty  of 
ed,  half- 
way of 
ot  have 
r  kills  a 
position 

ths  of  a 
d  starve 
the  jail, 
ould  be 
eat  two 
r  kinds 
water, 
anuary, 
ierested 
irly  un- 


t 

I 

I 


I 


s 


t 


S! 


m 


!!i  m 


»■ 


,j'     {lOV 


i  t '  i: 


jli: 
11 


'ill 


1                                            • 

tlic 

gn 
on! 

nia 

t 

the 

j^ii 

t                                                          .-i-  \  ; .: 

IN   THE   CANADAS. 


t)9 


able  to  pay  the  debt  for  which  he  was  imprisoned.  The  notori- 
ous Walter  M'Crea,  who  drew  up  most  of  the  capiases  which 
were  issued  in  Canada  West,  was  the  attorney  of  the  creditor 
who  had  imprisoned  Hildreth.  After  the  lapse  of  two  months, 
when,  by  the  usual  course  of  proceedings  in  such  cases,  a  consi- 
derable bill  of  costs  had  been  made,  M'Lean  informed  Hildreth 
that  he  would  do  nothing  more  in  the  matter  unless  he  could  in- 
duce some  of  his  friends  to  guarantee  the  costs.  This  the  poor 
fellow  could  not  do,  as  the  few  friends  he  had  in  the  world  were 
with  difl&culty  able  to  meet  their  own  accruing  obligations ;  and 
his  wife  was  reduced  to  such  extremity  as  to  be  compelled  to 
abandon  her  own  home,  take  lodgings  with  a  neighbor,  and  labor 
for  the  support  of  herself  and  family.  After  the  18th  day  of 
January,  1858,  the  sheriff  ordered  Hildreth  to  be  supplied  daily 
with  a  pint  of  the  ordinary  soup — which  was  made  of  the  meanest 
description  of  lean  meat  which  the  contractor  for  supplying  the 
prison  can  procure.  Sometimes  this  soup  was  made  from  the 
shanks  of  beef  cattle,  at  other  times  from  such  "  ancient "  mut- 
ton as  he  could  find  no  market  for  among  the  poorest  class  of  the 
townspeople,  and  which  was  black  with  long  exposure  on  the 
shambles.  Potatoes  and  saltwe*  *he  only  additional  ingredients 
used  to  make  the  meagre  compound  dignified  with  the  name 
of  soup,  and  which  we  were  compelled  to  subsist  upon,  month 
after  month.  In  the  spring,  I  have  seen  potatoes  served  out  to 
the  prisoners,  which,  when  brought  out  of  the  cellar,  were  so 
closely  matted  together  by  sprouts  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  long, 
that  the  full  of  a  bushel-basket  could  readily  be  raised  from  the 
ground  with  one  hand  by  grasping  the  sprouts.  The  roots  hav- 
ing also  commenced  to  push  forward,  these  potatoes  consisted 
only  of  a  watery  insipid  mass,  not  fit  for  the  stomach  of  either 
man  or  beast.  The  daily  ration  of  each  prisoner  was  a  pint  of 
the  soup  (gravy-water,  as  it  was  called  by  an  Irishman  in  the 
jail),  in  which  there  was  a  small  piece  of  meat  and  one  largo 


■  Bf 


Ul 


W 


S, 


U.\  u 


f 


W 


I'..: 


I 


60 


IMPRISONMENT    FOR   DEBT 


potato,  or  two  small  ones.  This  allowance  was  all  poor  Hildreth 
got  beside  his  gutta-percha  loaf,  —  the  same  that  was  given  to 
the  prisoners  who  were  committed  for  larceny  and  other  crimes, 
—  and  for  months  this  meagre  faro  was  his  sole  sustenance. 

As  the  Canadian  lawyers  generally  combine  together  to  make 
the  most  they  can  out  of  the  prisoners  in  the  jails,  I  have  been 
told  that  M'Crea  and  M'Lean  agreed  to  hold  Hildreth  (as  they 
do  all  who  fall  into  their  clutches)  until  his  relatives  came  for- 
ward to  pay  the  debt  and  costs  of  suit,  but  more  especially  the 
latter.  There  appearing,  however,  to  be  no  prospect  of  any  one 
interesting  himself  in  behalf  of  the  poor  oppressed  man,  M'Lean 
became  ashamed  of  his  complicity  in  this  indirect  attempt  at 
robbery,  and  wrote  to  the  judge  at  Toronto,  detailing  the  situa- 
tion of  the  prisoner,  and  his  sufferings ;  whereupon  that  func- 
tionary sent  down  an  order  for  his  immediate  release,  unless  the 
retaining  creditor  paid  two  dollars  per  week  for  his  board.  Of 
course  the  creditor  would  not  comply,  as  he  saw  but  little  pros- 
pect of  ever  recovering  a  single  farthing.      iis  '    ^   ..  i 

The  reader  can,  from  the  narrative  of  this  case,  form  some 
idea  of  the  motive  which  prompts  a  grasping  creditor  to  falsely 
swear  his  debtor  into  jail.  If  the  debtor  has  no  means  of  his 
own,  it  is  expected  that  his  friends  or  relatives  will  aid  in  pro- 
curing his  release  J  and  therefore  it  is  necessary  that  the  poor 
unfortunate  should  suflFer,  in  order  to  arouse  the  sympathy  of 
others,  and  incite  them  to  assist  him  in  his  distress.  The  misery 
thus  heaped  upon  families — helpless  wives  and  innocent  children, 
aged  fathers  and  decrepit  mothers,  dependent  sisters  and  loving 
friends — is  incalculable,  beside  what  is  suffered  by  the  people  of 
the  entire  country  j  for  the  honest,  thrifty,  and  industrious  farm- 
ers and  mechanics,  who  produce  all  the  wealth,  are  compelled  to 
contribute  in  taxes  toward  the  support  of  those  imprisoned  debt- 
ors who  have  nothing  to  live  on,  as  well  as  toward  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  prisoners  who  are  committed  for  theft,  etc. 


h  '  iiii 


IN    THE   CANADAS. 


(31 


;    -ll 


ii"-. 


MORE   ABOUT   CANADIAN   JAILS. 


'■•arr  .JO'tmi^yf 


It  is  impossible  for  any  man  immersed  in  business,  who  enjoys 
the  comibrts  of  a  lionie,  and  full  political  and  religious  liberty, 
to  imagine  the  wretchedness  and  misery  of  the  poor  devils  who 
are  confined  for  months,  sometimes  years,  between  the  walls  of  a 
Canadian  jail.  The  suspense  and  anxiety  which  constantly  tor- 
ture the  mind  of  the  incarcerated  debtor,  who  knows  not  how 
long  his  imprisonment  may  last,  are  aggravated  by  the  imposi- 
tions practised  upon  him  by  the  jailor  and  his  understrappers, 
and  by  the  false  reports  concerning  him,  set  afloat  by  malignant 
creditors,  who  stop  at  no  lie  which  will  serve  their  purpose.  In 
my  case,  M'Intyre  reported  that  I  was  in  full  flight,  when  he  for- 
tunately seized  me  by  the  coat-tail,  and  thus  secured  my  person. 
A  single  month  of  this  kind  of  life  is  sufiicient  to  disease  the 
mental  as  well  as  physical  organization  of  any  man — much  more 
will  eighteen  months'  confinement,  such  as  I  suflFered,  break 
down  the  strongest  mind  and  stoutest  frame  ever  joined  together 
in  one  being.  However,  I  kept  as  quiet,  and  controlled  my  tem- 
per and  feelings  as  much  as  possible ;  though  my  sudden  with- 
drawal from  active  business  life,  and  the  repetition  to  me  of  the 
false  reports  which  were  circulated  through  thfi  streets  concern- 
ing me,  together  with  the  libellous  charges  against  ray  character 
disseminated  through  the  medium  of  the  public  press,  were  suf- 
ficient to  have  weighed  down  to  earth  the  spirit  of  any  man. 

I  purchased  a  large  tin  pan  and  some  coarse  towels,  and,  by 
means  of  frequent  bathing,  cooled  my  fevered  system,  averted 
much  sickness,  and  kept  the  vermin  from  my  person.  By  con- 
tinually sprinkling  and  sweeping  the  floor,  and  frequently  chang- 
ing the  straw  in  the  beds,  after  the  old  rubbish  was  cleared  out 
of  the  room,  I  succeeded  in  ridding  my  bed  and  covering  of  the 
fleas,  which  previously  gave  it  a  peppery  appearance.  There 
were  a  few  wood-lice  and  earwigs,  which  occasionally  annoyed  us; 
but  no  care  would  banish  them,  as  they  harbored  in  the  decaying 


I 


H 


6 


62 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


m  r 


IM 


I  J'  '' 


'■ii.  i 


wainscot,  where  they  were  beyond  reach.  A  young  Englishman, 
who  roomed  with  me  about  four  months,  used  to  say,  when  he 
arose  in  the  morning,  "  See  here,  what  bedfellows !"  But  my 
answer  was,  "  I  have  enough  on  my  own  bed,  without  looking  at 
those  on  yours."  With  warm  weather  came  the  bedbugs;  but 
we  succeeded  in  keeping  the  vermin  from  increasing. 

I  dreaded  the  lice  which  infested  the  persons  of  many  of  the 
vagrants  who  were  brought  into  the  prison,  and  which  were 
sometimes  carried  into  my  cell  on  the  clothes  of  John  Hillman, 
the  turnkey,  who  was  constantly  ranging  through  all  parts  of  the 
jail.  Instead  of  first  cleansing  a  dirty  man.  and  changing  his 
clothes,  they  would  thrust  him  in  among  others,  and  thus  louse 
them,  as  well  as  the  bedding,  blankets,  etc.  The  cells  and  fur- 
niture were  cleansed  only  when  they  became  so  filthy  as  to  ex- 
ceed human  endurance,  and  to  jxcite  loud  and  angry  complaints. 
One  individual  was  quartered  in  the  criminal's  apartment  who 
was  literally  swarming  with  lice ;  so  thickly  did  they  cover  him, 
that,  when  stripped  and  put  into  a  tub  of  water,  a  negro  in  the 
same  quarter,  who  acted  as  bather-general,  was  obliged  to  take  a 
stiff,  half-worn  corn-broom,  and  scrub  the  lice  from  the  back  and 
other  parts  of  the  prisoner.  The  water  was  actually  filled 
with  the  vermin.  All  kinds  of  filth  must  be  brought  into  a  Ca- 
nadian jail,  in  order  to  annoy  those  who  would  keep  clean  if  pos- 
sible. •  ,•;       ,.-!.'     .-,, 

Except  when  I  was  allowed  to  go  into  the  privy,  which  was 
but  five  feet  distant  from  my  cell,  the  heavy  wooden  door  on  the 
inside  was  kept  locked  for  seven  and  a  half  months ;  and  when 
allowed  to  obey  the  calls  of  nature,  the  prisoners  were  closely^ 
watched  by  Hillman.  All  the  air  I  breathed  was  what  I  could 
get  by  lowering  the  upper  casement  of  the  window  a  distance  of 
six  inches,  and  that  which  passed  between  the  crevices  of  the 
door  which  led  toward  the  privy,  from  which  a  very  noisome 
smell  was  constantly  exhaling.  In  April,  1858,  a  merchant 
numed  John  Winter,  who  could  not  pay  his  debts,  was  placed  in 


^^ 


IN    THE   CAN  ADAS.    '« 


68 


my  cell,  though  he  had  been  a  resident  of  the  village  of  Chat- 
ham for  twenty  years.  When  very  warm  weather  set  in,  during 
the  months  of  June  and  July,  wo  procured  a  person  to  inform 
the  sheriff  of  our  sufferings,  and  several  individuals  who  had 
visited  us  made  public  representations  of  our  pitiable  condition. 
About  the  middle  of  July,  fifteen  days  after  notice  was  given 
him,  the  sheriff  ordered  the  upper  casement  of  our  window  to 
be  lowered  eighteen  inches,  and  there  fastened.  The  lower  sash 
was  always  screwed  down  on  the  outside,  though  there  was  a 
double  set  of  iron  bars  let  into  the  walls,  and  crossing  the  win- 
dows. The  wooden  door  of  my  cell  being  also  left  unlocked  by 
order  of  the  sheriff,  we  could  take  the  air  in  the  little  hall  by 
the  "  chapel  of  ease,"  and  also  pass  into  the  cell  of  another 
debtor  j  or,  we  might  walk  about  ten  feet,  to  a  door  made  of  iron 
bars,  between  which  could  be  seen  (through  the  vista  of  a  long 
hall,  having  a  plank  and  iron  door  at  the  terminus,  which  was 
left  open  in  fine  weather)  a  high  stone  wall.  The  family  of  the 
jailor  lived  in  that  portion  of  the  building. 

For  want  of  my  usual  exercise  and  fresh  air,  my  health  com- 
menced failing  about  the  first  of  June,  1858,  and  I  became  so 
poor,  thin,  and  weak,  that  in  the  mornings  I  could  scarcely  rise 
from  my  couch  of  straw.  I  was  so  sore  all  over  my  body,  that  I 
could  neither  sit  nor  lie  down  without  experiencing  great  pain. 
T  had  frequently  asked  "  Grampus  "  to  let  me  have  a  rough  bunk 
made,  twelve  or  eighteen  inches  high,  with  a  slat  bottom,  on 
which  to  lay  liiy  straw;  but  he  invariably  refused,  alleging  that 
it  would  be  an  infringement  of  the  jail  regulations;  and,  not- 
withstanding I  offered  to  pay  for  it  myself,  yet  the  answer  was 
always  a  surly  "  No."  The  rule  of  a  jailor  is  to  torment  a  debtor 
as  much  as  possible ;  and  the  larger  his  debts,  the  greater  annoy- 
ance will  he  be  subjected  to,  in  order  to  compel  him  to  call  upon 
his  friends  to  aid  him  in  his  necessity.  I  have  always  thought, 
and  still  continue  to  think,  that  creditors  fee  the  jailor  for  ill- 
using  the  debtors,  with  a  view  of  compelling  the  latter  to  a  set- 


C4 


IMi'UiyONMENT    FOll   DEBT 


V  I 


!'■    '-i: 


v.-  w 


fii^'  y- 


u  ' 


tlcnient  as  speedily  as  possible.  After  I  had  been  ailing  some 
time,  I  got  the  fever  and  ague,  which  so  enfeebled  me  that  I 
could  with  difficulty  rise  from  the  floor.     The  deputy  sheriff 

coming  in  one  day,  and  seeing  my  condition,  said,  "  It  is  a  d d 

shame  to  abuse  any  human  being  that  way.  I  have  gone  through 
the  mill  myself."  He  immediately  went  to  the  sheriff,  and  got 
from  him  an  order,  directing  "  Grampus  "  to  let  me  have  a  bunk 
if  I  paid  for  it;  whereupon  Mr.  Hoag,  a  carpenter  in  Chatham, 
measured  ray  bed  (  ?  ),  and  made  one  which  cost  me  six  shillings. 
I  was  able  to  get  up  some  time  in  August,  1858 ;  and  thereafter 
I  was  more  comfortable,  but  still  very  sick.  Calomel,  castor  oil, 
and  Osgood's  Calagogue  broke  the  fever;  after  which  I  com- 
menced to  recover,  and  would  have  convalesced  rapidly,  if  I  had 
received  proper  nourishment,  and  been  allowed  access  to  fresh 
air.  I  had  so  little  appetite  that  I  could  scarcely  eat  anything; 
and,  notwithstanding  I  paid  $3  per  week,  cash,  for  my  board,  I 
was  furnished  with  nothing  better  than  sheep-meat,  and  the 
other  food,  mentioned  before — none  of  which  was  fit  for  the  sto- 
mach of  a  person  in  my  weak  and  delicate  condition.  I  was  even 
refused  permission  to  go  into  the  jail  yard,  which  was  surrounded 
with  high  stone  walls,  and  where  I  could  get  a  mouthful  of  fresh 
air,  although  I  offered  to  let  them  attach  a  chain  to  my  leg,  to 
which  was  fastened  a  thirty-two  pound  ball.  This  would  have 
been  too  great  a  privilege  to  allow  a  sick  debtor,  and  likely,  by 
the  improvement  of  his  health,  to  postpone  the  time  of  payment, 
by  himself  or  his  friends,  of  the  debt  which  an  infamous  creditor 
had  perjured  himself  in  swearing  that  he  was  about  to  flee  the 
country  in  order  to  avoid  the  payment  of.  A  horse-thief  or  a  high- 
way robber  is  provided  with  food  by  the  county,  and  with  medi- 
cal attendance  when  sick ;  but  the  man  who,  by  the  occurrence 
of  events  beyond  his  control,  such  as  losses  in  business,  sickness, 
or  monetary  convulsions,  becomes  unable  to  meet  his  liabilities, 
is  not  deemed  worthy  of  any  consideration,  and  no  provision  is 
made  for  his  maintenance.     Let  it  bo  known  to  all  the  world 


If 


^ 


5 


^ 


I? 


O      ID 
I     -* 


04 


B 


\    i 


t 


1 

!'f 

r 

|; 

k 

1'; 

f 

1 ' 

p 

N  H 

f-' 

■  !?■•; 


•  L 


—  14 


IN  THE  CANADAS. 


65 


that,  in  Canada,  a  horse-thief,  a  burglar,  a  highwayman,  or  a  mur- 
derer is  considered  a  more  valuable  member  of  society,  and  is 
better  cared  for,  than  an  honest,  industrious  man,  who  has  striven 
resolutely,  but  ineffectually,  to  discharge  his  obligations  to  indi- 
viduals as  well  as  to  society.  Spread  abroad  this  intelligence, 
and  who  that  values  his  liberty  or  his  character  will  set  foot  in 
a  land  where  vice  is  pampered  and  virtue  discredited — where  tho 
la\»'s  promote  the  increase  of  crime  instead  of  repressing  it?    '  ' 


\{ 


I'; 


v-f) 


r    ^  * 


TANTALIZING  ACTIONS   OP  THE  JAILOR. 


I  recovered  from  my  sickness  as  rapidly  as  could  be  expected, 
considering  that  I  was  without  medical  assistance,  or  food  proper 
for  a  convalescent  person  j  though,  by  purchase,  arid  by  express 
from  my  home,  I  was  supplied  with  some  articles  which  were 
palatable  and  nourishing.  Before  anything  was  allowed  to  be 
carried  into  my  cell,  however,  it  was  examined  by  "  Grampus," 
who  emptied  the  baskets  of  their  contents,  and  handled  each  ar- 
ticle separately,  lest  it  should  conceal  some  instrument  which 
would  aid  me  in  effecting  my  escape.  The  wax  was  melted  off 
and  the  corks  taken  out  of  glass  preserve-jars,  the  contents  of 
which  were  stirred  up  with  a  stick,  although  so  transparent  they 
could  be  seen  through.  This  was  done  to  aggravate  me ;  and  it 
was  commonly  reported  outside  the  jail  that  "Grampus"  broke 
my  eggs  before  they  were  sent  in  to  me.  My  creditors  made 
constant  inquiries  about  the  old  Yankee's  health,  as  they  hoped 
my  sickness  would  influence  some  of  my  friends  to  pay  the 
amount  of  their  claims.  ... 


1 


SHERIFF   mercer's    UNGENTLEMANLY   CONDUCT. 

In  January,  1858,  seeing  that  I  could  not  procure  a  settlement 
with  my  creditors,  and  a  release;  from  bondage,  I  sent  to  tho 
Royal  Exchange  Hotel,  J.  Pritchard  proprietor,  for  ray  trunk, 
6*  E 


a." 


^ 


66 


IMPRISONMENT  FOll  DEDT 


that  I  might  take  out  of  it  such  clothing  08  1  needed  through 
tlio  winter,  and  roplaco  theui  witli  my  summer  a;  '  fall  stock. 
When  my  trunk  arrived,  "Grampus"  would  not  permit  it  to  bo 
carried  into  my  cell,  but  had  it  placed  in  the  outer  hall;  though 
I  told  him  that  he  was  at  perfect  liberty  to  cxan)ino  it  before- 
hand. Feeling  that  this  man's  conduct  was  intended  as  an  in- 
sult, I  wrote  to  Sheriff  Mercer,  detailing  the  circumstances,  and 
re(iue8tod  his  intorlcrcnoe  in  my  behalf;  but  he  was  so  ungen- 
tlciMJinly  as  not  to  answer  my  letter.  Had  ho  sent  mo  a  refusal 
couched  in  the  fewest  possible  words,  I  should  not  have  been  so 
much  annoyed  as  I  was  at  his  breach  of  courtesy  and  the  usages 
of  polite  society.  But  I  consoled  myself  with  the  reflection  that 
nothing  else  could  be  expected  from  one  of  the  English  codfish 
aristocracy,  holding  a  petty  oflSco,  who  is  wont  to  play  the  bully 
when  an  unfortunate  man's  hands  are  tied,  and  he  cannot  re- 
taliate. It  was  currently  reported  that  Payne  was  Mercer's  se- 
curity; and  hence,  as  Mercer  was  in  the  power  of  the  brutal 
jailor,  the  latter  could  do  as  he  saw  fit.  Payne  was  one  of  the 
old  school  of  jailors  —  a  very  savage;  inhuman,  vindictive,  and 
bloodthirsty,  he  vented  his  malicious  disposition  on  every  one 
who  fell  into  his  clutches,  and  even  his  own  family  did  not  es- 
cape. ;..•:-;.'  i.,    j:..      --r--:     -     -    .     .       ■      ■  ■   ■■■■>    -.       -.,    .    ,       ■- 


l^ 


T: 


'! 


^^       "grampus"  and  his  turnkey. 

The  oldest  settlers  in  Kent  County  were  not  exempt  from  the 
malice  of  the  English  bull-dog  jailor,  if  by  chance  they  got  into 
the  prison  under  his  charge;  as  he  would  then  impose  upon  them 
in  different  ways  which  no  one  but  an  unprincipled  rascal  like 
himself  would  ever  think  of.  Many  Canadians,  whose  names  it 
is  not  necessary  to  mention  here,  will  attest  the  reliability  of  this 
statement.  Twenty  years  ago,  or  thereabouts,  "  Grampus  "  was 
appointed  a  bailiff  for  the  county  of  Essex  —  since  divided.  At 
that  time  the  law  permitted  the  creditor  to  take  all  the  furniture, 
etc.,  in  the  house  of  his  debtor;  and  frequently  did  this  Saxon 


I  i  Mi 


% 


IN   THK  ^^NAnAfl. 


67 


U 


hound  of  tlio  law  strip  families  of  their  little  all,  Icaviiifj?  weep- 


id  friirhtcncd  cliildi 


itli  iioth 


id  thci 


mir  women 

but  the  bare  walls.  If  a  lady  was  sittin)^  or  lyin;^  on  her  bed, 
the  law  did  not  permit  the  uho  of  harsh  mcunH  to  remove  her 
from  it;  but  f^omo  cunnin;^  trick  would  be  resorted  to  for  tho 
])urpose,  and,  if  successlul,  tho  bed  would  be  immediately  seized. 
"Grampus"  aceumulated  money  in  this  p'sition,  as  the  costs 
then,  as  now,  absorbed  half  the  funds  realized  from  the  sale  of  a 
debtor's  property.  So  well  did  he  serve  his  country  in  the 
oflico  of  bailiff,  that,  when  tho  county  was  divided,  and  a  jail 
built  at  (vhatham,  his  Excellency,  tho  Governor  of  the  (Panadas,  was 
pleased  to  appoint  him  governor  of  that  exceedingly  comfortable 
building.  He  was  deemed  the  best  fitted  for  the  office,  as  he 
knew  the  speediest  methods  of  extracting  tho  cash  from  a  debtor 
by  vexing  and  torturing  him  beyond  human  endurance  j  and, 
therefore,  in  tho  eyes  of  an  administrator  of  tho  laws,  he  was  u 
most  valuable  assistant.      ^.    :  ,.  s 

The  turnkey  (llillman)  imposed  upon  and  annoyed  mo  very 
much.  All  imprisoned  debtors  are  called  cash  articles  in  Canada, 
particularly  by  tho  sherifl*  and  tho  jailor;  for  if  either  of  these 
functionaries  allows  a  debtor  to  slip  away,  the  creditor  has  a  legal 
"i  ,ht  to  collect  the  debt  from  the  negligent  official.  Therefore, 
debtors,  when  in  prison,  are  suspected  and  watched  both  night 
and  day,  lest  they  may  effect  their  escape,  and  those  who  have 
charge  of  them  be  compelled  to  pay  their  debtf*  I  have  fre- 
quently thought  that  these  officers  abused  and  starved  the  pri- 
soners in  order  to  make  them  pay  as  soon  as  possible,  that  they 
might  get  rid  of  them,  for  fear  they  should  escape,  and  thus 
make  them  liable  for  the  debt.  Three-fourths  of  the  time  I  was 
in  the  prison,  the  turnkey  slept  in  my  cell  at  night,  to  watch  the 
slippery  Yankee,  as  I  was  called,  and  prevent  him  from  making 
hie  escape.  To  preserve  my  health,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  strip- 
ping oflF  all  my  clothes  in  the  mornings,  bathing  myself  all  over 
with  cold  water,  and  n  obing  my  skin  dry  with  coarse  towels. 


Id 


G8 


IMl'lUSONMKNT   FOIl   DKllT 


To  prevent  intrusion  vhiln  so  doin^,  I  usually  put  n  door-fhstonor 
in  the  spncr  l)ctwceQ  the  door  nnd  the  jnmb;  yet,  if  thiH  impu- 
dent Kn<rli.sh  puppy  wished  to  enter,  he  would  not  wait  ti  niiiiuto 
for  nie  to  unfasten  it,  but  run  toward  it,  applying  his  shoulder 
with  sueh  force  as  to  tear  out  the  fastener.  Then,  bouncing  into 
my  cell,  his  manner  was  indicative  of  an  apprehension  that  I  was 
engaged  in  undermining  the  prison  walls,  although  he  invariably 
Ibund  me  nude,  and  engaged  in  cleansing  my  person.  It  was 
always  a  gratification  to  these  low-born  Englishmen  when  they 
had  an  opportunity  of  displaying  their  brief  authority  over  their 
superiors  in  birth  and  intellect,  who,  though  natives  of  Canada, 
are  never  permitted  to  hold  an  oflBce,  no  matter  how  petty,  which 
a  boorish  Yorkshireman  can  be  found  to  administer.  This  fel- 
low, probably,  never  had  charge  of  anything  in  England  more 
valuable  than  a  wheelbarrow;  and  the  care  of  the  keys  of  a 
filthy  Canadian  jail  so  enhanced  his  importance  in  his  own  esti- 
mation, that,  like  the  frog  in  the  fable,  he  swelled  up  until  he 
was  ready  to  burst.  Ho  became  very  pompous  after  ho  got  the 
hob-nailed  shoes  off  his  feet.      "  .-  '     "  •. 

Toward  the  close  of  my  imprisonment,  he  gave  me,  as  he  sup- 
posed, a  scathing  reprimand,  which  I  was  under  the  impression 
he  had  been  for  some  time  trying  to  work  off.  During  the  three 
months  previous  to  my  discharge,  as  my  funds  had  run  low,  and 
my  friends  had  tired  of  furnishing  me,  I  was  not  able  to  pay  the 
usual  $3  per  week ;  so  I  purchased  a  ham,  some  bread,  butter, 
etc.,  and  prepared  my  own  food  —  cooking  the  meat  over  the 
flames  in  the  stove  by  passing  a  wire  through  it,  which  served 
the  purpose  of  a  spit.  My  living  in  this  way  cost  me  but  16§ 
cents  per  day;  and  though  but  poor  fai*e,  yet  it  served  to  keep 
body  and  soul  together.  In  that  part  of  the  prison  assigned  to 
criminals,  a  poor  Irishman  was  lodged,  who  was  charged  with 
stealing  a  small  sum  of  money,  with  which  to  buy  whiskey ;  and, 
being  half  starved,  he  begged  me  to  give  him  the  skin  and  other 
parings  from  my  ham.    Between  my  cell  and  his  was  a  communi- 


I 


IN    TIIK   CAN  ADAS. 


60 


'1 

! 
I 


cation,  by  means  of  t]jo  holo  mado  for  tho  reception  of  the  stove- 
pipe ;  and  tlirouj^h  this  I  used  to  pass  Iiim  tho  coveted  food,  to- 
gether witli  a  little  of  tho  meat;  for  which  he  was  very  grate- 
ful, as,  being  a  largo  man,  the  broad  and  "  gravy-water  "  he  got 
daily  was  insufficient  for  his  sustenance.  Sometimes,  wheti  one 
of  tho  iron  doors  was  opened  in  tho  morning  by  the  turnkey,  I 
would,  in  his  presence,  carry  a  bit  of  ham  and  some  of  the  skin 
to  the  door  of  tho  Irishman's  cell,  distant  only  three  or  four 
Htcps,  and  give  them  to  him.  After  I  had  acted  in  this  manner' 
several  times,  "  John  Bull,"  thinking  it  afforded  me  some  grati- 
lieation,  and  was  a  favor  to  the  half-starved  "  Micky,"  and  it  be- 
ing likewise  an  infringement  of  tho  rules  of  a  Canada  jail  to 
treat  either  man  or  beast  in  a  decent  manner,  opened  upon  me 
one  morning  with  a  volley  of  invectives  and  abuse  for  making  so 
free;  desiring  me  to  mind  my  own  business,  and  stay  where  I 
belonged.  All  tho  time  ho  was  tongue-lashing  me  he  did  not 
look  me  in  the  face  once ;  but  sidled  toward  me,  looking  another 
wuy,  as  a  dog  does  when  about  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  a  cat.  I 
made  no  reply,  however,  seeing  that  he  was  as  much  ashamed  of 
his  conduct  as  his  breeding  would  allow. 

After  I  had  written  to  tho  sheriff,  asking  him  to  como  and  see 
me,  the  jailor  (Payne)  one  day  entered  my  cell  and  abused  me 
like  a  pickpocket  for  making  known  to  that  officer  his  brutal 
conduct;  saying  that  I  told  lies,  and  using  other  offensive  lan- 
guage, which  was  indicative  of  his  natural  talents,  and  the  care 
he  had  used  in  cultivating  them.  He  even  denied  me  the  use 
of  a  nail-rod,  with  which  to  stir  the  fire ;  which  I  was  compelled 
to  do  with  a  stick  qf  wood,  or  with  my  fingers.  Ho  was  in  the 
habit  of  coming  into  my  room  with  the  turnkey,  during  the 
winter  of  1858,  and  making  this  man  turn  up  my  straw  couch, 
to  see  if  I  was  not  burning  a  hole  in  the  floor,  through  which  to 
make  my  escape,  as  about  that  time  a  negro  got  out  of  Sandwich 
jail  in  that  manner.  On  one  occasion,  I  saw  "Grampus"  get 
up  into  my  window  on  the  outside  of  the  jail,  and  examine  the 
iron  bars,  for  fear  I  had  commenced  sawing  some  of  them  out. 


70 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


u 


!  ■  i,-  X 


I  '!#  ]  1 


i;  a 


Payne  pxamining  ^ho  I^art. 

At  this  time  Payne  was  6G  years  of  age.  He  had  a  pipe  in 
his  mouth  at  all  times;  and  when  I  saw  him  in  the  window,  the 
volume  of  smoke  issuing  from  his  mouth,  between  myself  and 
the  sun,  reminded  me  of  a  burning  volcano.  It  occurred  to  nic 
that  he  would  have  looked  better  in  some  other  place,  reading 
his  Bible,  while  young  "Bull"  could  have  attended  to  the  busi- 
ness of  spy  in  daylight,  as  well  as  he  did  at  night,  between  0 
and  11  o'clock,  especially  when  I  had  a  light  in  my  cell,  and  he 
was  sent  to  look  in  and  see  what  the  Yankee  was  about.      ' 

It  outraged  my  feelings  to  be  locked  up  in  a  jail,  without 
cause,  and  gazed  at  by  twenty-four  jurors  every  term  of  the  court; 
but  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  attaching  any  censure  to 
the  jurymen,  who  were  usually  from  the  country,  and  respecta- 
ble, well-meaning  business  men,  farmers,  and  mechanics.  They 
visited  me  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their  office ;  but 
many  of  the  low  class  of  people  who  attended  the  courts  as  wit- 


' )  r 


IN   THE   CANADAS. 


71 


nesses  would  rap  at  my  window,  and  call  for  the  "  caged  Yan- 
kee" to  show  himself  to  the  curious  mob.  This,  when  I  could 
not,  on  account  of  the  iron  bars  which  crossed  the  window  both 
ways,  see  more  than  half  the  man,  was,  in  my  estimation,  too 
much  for  human  nature  to  bear.  But  I  was  compelled  to  put  up 
with  all  the  insults  which  were  heaped  upon  me  in  conformity 
with  Canadian  laws,  and  Canadian  modes  of  reciprocating  a  kind- 
ness. The  more  valuable  the  favors  conferred  on  some  of  them, 
the  greater  will  be  the  insults  they  will  heap  upon  their  bene- 
factors when  they  can  get  nothing  more  from  them.  Many 
years  ago,  I  heard  a  Mr.  Kent,  of  Niagara  Co.,  N.  Y.,  say  that  he 
would  not  go  to  Canada  that  winter,  lest  they  should  make  him 
pla^  at  checkers  with  his  nose.  I  never  understood  the  meaning 
of  the  expression  until  these  out-door  rowdies  summoned  me  to 
the  window,  and  I  got  up  on  the  ledge  to  see  who  it  was  culled 
me.  Looking  through  the  crossed  iron  bars,  I  at  once  discovered 
what  Kent's  checker-board  was;  and  I  now  caution  all  who  may 
read  these  pages  to  look  out,  as  Kent  did,  for  the  checker- board. 

When  friends  called  to  see  me,  if  they  were  not  old  acquaint- 
ances of  the  jailor,  he  would  not  admit  them  to  my  cell,  but 
keep  them  out  in  the  hall,  close  to  the  first  iron  door,  and  call 
me  out  into  the  little  entry-way  to  talk  with  them.  In  the  ma- 
jority of  instances,  the  turnkey  was  so  placed  as  to  hear  every 
word  that  was  said  ;  and  if  it  was  not  convenient  for  the  turnkey 
to  play  the  eavesdropper,  "Grampus"  would  officiate  in  his 
stead.  The  messenger  who  done  my  errands,  and  went  back  and 
forth  to  the  post-office  for  me,  was  refused  admittance  to  my  room, 
and  I  had  always  to  go  to  the  iron  door  to  see  hi)n.  On  one  oc- 
casion something  irritated  the  English  bull-dog,  and,  to  annoy 
me  stiii  more,  he  would  not  let  me  see  my  messenger.  He 
placed  him  in  the  family  room,  and  made  the  turnkey  the  me- 
dium of  communication  between  us ;  which  was  far  from  being 
pleasant,  besides  being  a  very  tedious  mode  of  doing  business. 

Before  the  opening  of  the  April  session,  I  was  looked  upon 


;  1:- 
ft 


u  * 


m 


I:  |i 


\ 


H 


\\.f 


72 


IMPRISONMENT    FOR   DEBT 


■r  :  V 


Mr.  Brown  conversing  with  a  Visitor  through  the  Iron  Door. 

as  worse  than  a  highway  robber,  owing  to  the  falsehoods  circiv 
latcd  by  my  arresting  creditors,  which  I  could  not  refute,  because 
ignorant  of  their  promulgation,  and  which  tended  very  much  to 
direct  public  opinion  against  me.  If  I  stated  truly  the  amount 
I  owed,  and  that  I  had  no  idea  of  not  paying  my  debts,  or  of 
leaving  the  country,  not  a  soul,  cither  in  or  out  of  the  jail,  would 
believe  a  word  I  said,  and  I  was  treated  as  a  robber. 


NUISANCES   CONNECTED   WITH   THE   CHATHAM   JAIL,   AND   CON- 
SEQUENT   SICKNESS   OF   THE   PRISONERS,   ETC. 

In  the  Kent  County  Jail,  at  Chatham,  sickness  prevailed  to  a 
great  extent  among  the  prisoners,  as  well  as  in  the  family  of  the 
jailor.  There  were  but  .\vg  divisions  in  which  criminals  were 
kept  [see  cut  of  grour  d-plan];  one  of  these  was  allotted  to  un- 


I  a    THE   CAN  ADAS. 


78^ 


tried  prisoners,  and  the  other  was  for  criminals  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  liard  labor  for  a  certain  period.  These  divisions 
each  contained  a  room  sixty  feet  long  by  fourteen  wide,  into 
which  opened  eight  cells  or  dormitories.  In  each  of  these  long 
apartments  was  a  pump,  communicating  with  a  well  sunk  imme- 
diately below ;  and  a  privy,  which  emptied  into  a  sewer  about 
ten  feet  distant  from  the  pump  well.  The  water  was  not  only 
hard  and  unwholesome,  but  was  sometimes  rendered  entirely  un- 
lit for  use  by  the  breaking  of  the  sewer,  or  by  rats  cutting  a  pas- 
sage through  into  the  wells  from  the  privy  vaults.  I  did  not 
consider  it  fit  for  use  at  any  time,  as  the  prison  stood  on  made 
ground  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames ;  and,  secure  the  privy  vaults 
as  much  as  possible,  the  contents  would  leak  into  the  well  not- 
withstanding. When  the  water  got  so  bad  that  it  could  not  be 
pumped  up,  "Mickey"  remarked  that  the  soup  was  a  little  too 
thick.  Under  the  jail  was  not  the  place  to  sink  wells,  as  rats 
were  not  only  constantly  cutting  through  the  floors,  but  also  bur- 
rowing through  the  earth  in  every  direction,  and  connecting  the 
wells  and  privy  vaults  with  each  other.  Many  times  at  night 
rats  over  twelve  inches  long  have  entered  my  culi,  and  been  there 
killed  by  my  guard,  as  they  were  entirely  too  free  in  coming  into 
our  beds. 

The  privy  situated  about  five  feet  from  iny  coll  door  was  used 
by  a  great  many  persons,  and  was  very  offensive  to  the  nostril^ 
of  all  who  had  not  become,  by  long  residence,  insensible  to  the 
smell.  One  of  my  friends  who  resided  in  Chatham  visited  me 
in  prison  in  the  beginning  of  May,  18-59,  bringing  with  him  a 
young  gentleman  from  Montreal,  Canada  East,  who  was  .ery  de- 
sirous to  see  the  man  who  had  been  imprisoned  so  long,  and 
about  whom  so  much  had  been  said.  Not  long  after  he  came 
into  my  room,  I  perceived  that  he  was  quite  uneasy,  and  he  soon 
inquired  what  it  was  that  made  such  a  nauseous  smell,  at  the 
same  time  making  a  survey  of  the  room,  in  which  there  was  no 
dirt  worth  mentioning,  and  of  the  walls,  which  were  vary  dingy 
7 


I 


J 


74 


IMPRISONMENT    i'Oll    DKIJT 


i«l 


V       I 


Iti,     ,%    ■:, 


—  not  having  been  whitewashed  for  more  than  two  years.  Ho 
made  a  few  remarks  about  it  —  in  substance,  that  such  a  prison 
smell  must  be  very  unwholesome  —  and  then  dropped  the  sub- 
ject; but  1  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  tell  him  he  was  in  a  place 
not  much  better  than  a  privy,  and  that  the  offensive  smell  was 
continually  findinpj  its  way  into  the  room  through  the  crevices 
under  and  around  the  door.  In  hot  weather  this  effluvia  would 
scent  all  that  portion  of  the  prison ;  and  many  gentlemen  have 
told  me  that  they  perceived  it  even  in  Payne's  parlor,  where 
they  Wfire  obliged  to  sit  some  time  before  they  could  enter  my 
apartment;  but  we,  who  were  inhaling  this  smell  constantly,  did 
not  notice  it  as  much  as  occasional  visitors.  A  large  sewer  ran 
under  the  jail,  and  emptied  its  contents  into  the  river  above  high- 
water  mark;  and  at  the  northeast  side  of  the  jail,  close  to  the 
door  which  opened  into  the  apartments  occupied  by  the  family 
of  the  jailor,  there  was  an  opening,  through  which  the  offal  and 
slops  from  that  part  of  the  house  were  emptied  into  the  sewer. 
As  a  strong  current  of  air  was  constantly  coming  from  the  river 
through  the  sewer,  and  discharging  at  this  opening,  it  may  readily 
be  imagined  how  much  bad  air  was  continually  circulating  in  the 
hall  and  in  other  parts  of  the  prison.  Much  of  the  sickness 
with  which  I  was  affected  during  the  summer  of  1858  was  attri- 
butable to  this  foul  and  pestilential  atmosphere,  which  all  lodged 
in  the  prison  were  compelled  to  inhale. 

During  the  summer  of  1858 — the  precise  date  I  do  not  recol- 
lect—  Payne  was  attacked  with  a  violent  fever,  which  prostrated 
him  so  much  that  at  one  time  his  recovery  was  considered  im- 
possible, lie  got  over  it,  however,  and,  after  he  was  able  to  walk 
about,  reflection  upon  his  past  conduct  seemed  to  have  somewhat 
modified  his  disposition,  as  he  treated  those  around  him  much 
better  than  formerly.  All  noticed  the  change,  and  hopes  were 
indulged  that  the  punishment  he  had  received  would  be  product- 
ive of  permanent  benefit.  Indeed,  many  of  r!.o  prisoners  ex- 
pressed themselves  to  that  effect,  and  one  said  he  trusted  thai 


IN    THE   CANADAS 


n 


"God,  in  liis  mercy  to  all  mankind,  would  shako  him  by  the  col- 
lar once  in  every  ninety  days,  if  as  much  good  would  result  from 
it  as  from  the  scourging  he  had  just  undergone." 

About  the  time  of  Payne's  recovery,  his  wife  took  sick,  owing 
to  the  fatigue  she  had  passed  through,  and  from  breathing  the 
impure  air;  but,  after  a  tedious  illness,  she  partially  recovered 
from  the  fever,  when  mental  trouble,  bodily  weakness,  and  want 
of  a  pure  atmosphere,  produced  a  relapse,  which  brought  her  to 
the  verge  of  the  grave.  The  prison  physician  gave  her  up;  but 
he  knew  but  little  about  his  profession;  or,  if  he  ever  did,  an 
excessive  use  of  strong  water  (rum)  had  caused  him  to  forget 
what  he  had  learned.  This  gentleman  was  known  among  his 
brother  Englishmen  as  one  of  the  codfish  aristocracy.  His  prac- 
tice in  the  country  villages  having  been  lost  through  his  own  in- 
attention to  business,  consequent  upon  excessive  spiritual  indulg- 
ence, he  was,  through  the  influence  of  the  sheriff",  appointed 
prison  physician,  with  a  liberal  salary,  in  conformity  with  the 
practice  in  Canada,  to  take  good  care  of  all  the  old  soldiers.  It 
made  but  little  diiference  to  the  authorities  whether  he  killed  or 
cured  his  patients,  as  the  lives  of  prisoners  were  not  deemed  of 
any  consequence.  Unfortunately  for  herself,  this  man  attended 
Mrs.  Payne  during  her  illness,  I  suppose  because  his  services 
cost  nothing;  though,  in  the  main,  they  were  very  expensive. 

The  criminals  in  the  prison  were  frequently  sick;  though  not 
with  fevers,  as  they  were  rarely  long  enough  within  the  walls  for 
the  poisonous  atmosphere  to  produce  an  effect.  They  were 
greatly  troubled  with  indigestion  and  eostiveness,  caused  by  be- 
ing constantly  supplied  with  the  same  description  of  food,  and 
by  its  inferior  quality;  "gutta-percha"  bread  and  water  being- 
served  up  for  breakfast  and  supper,  and  "gravy-water,"  with 
miserably  lean  meat  and  unsound  potatoes,  forming  the  stereotyped 
dinner.  The  dry,  tough  bread,  and  hard  water,  so  affected  the 
bowels  of  some  of  the  prisoners,  that  they  could  not  procure  a 
stool  without  the  use  of  a  large  syringe,  which  was  kept  in  the 


I   r 


i 


\i 


7G 


IMI'UISONMENT   TOll   DKBT 


prison  for  emergencies.  Large  quantities  of  salts,  castor-oil,  and 
other  medicines  were  used  for  the  purpose,  without  producing 
any  appreciable  eft'ect.  In  fact,  tlie  provincial  Board  of  Physi- 
cians have  admitted  that  even  mercury  will  not  force  a  passage 
through  a  man's  bowels  when  they  are  filled  with  *' gutta-percha" 
bread  and  water.  .^    Ji     .      ■  .1  .m. 

Nearly  all  of  the  debtors  brought  into  the  jail  would,  after 
being  in  contincment  a  few  weeks,  become  sick  from  inhaling  the 
foul  ii(  iiosphere  which  surrounded  them,  and  of  which  they  com- 
plain, from  the  hour  of  their  entrance.  Some  wore  affected 
witii  a  ..eaku'^ss  of  the  joints,  and  general  prostration,  while 
oth'Mj?  Av,  re  troubled  with  vertigo  to  such  an  extent  as  to  stagger 
wkjr  t"'^v  walked.  English  barbarity  does  not  think  mere  im- 
prisoHi  :Ct!t  a  sufficient  torture  for  men  whose  only  crime  is  the 
misfortune  of  being  poor,  but  adds  thereto  a  refinement  of  cru- 
elty which  far  exceeds  any  invented  by  savage  ingenuity  —  the 
red  savage  tortures  only  the  sense  of  feeling,  while  the  white 
savage  puts  all  the  other  senses  upon  the  rack,  not  merely  for  a 
few  hours,  but  for  days  and  months — sometimes  for  years.  The 
sense  of  sight  is  outraged  by  tl  e  surrounding  filth ;  the  sense  of 
taste  by  the  nauseating  and  inwholesome  food;  the  sense  of 
smell  by  the  fetid  odors  with  which  the  air  is  always  filled;  the 
sense  of  hearing  by  the  coarse  and  abusive  language  used  by  the 
officials  to  the  prisoners  under  their  charge,  and  the  sense  of 
feeling  by  the  beastly  beds  on  v\  hicu  prisoners  are  said  —  ironi- 
cally, of  coui'se —  to  repose  their  aching  limbo. 


Ji '  il 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS    OF   PRISON    FARE. 

"When  first  imprisoned,  many  debtors  would  declare  they  could 
not  live  on  the  food  served  to  those  who  were  able  to  pay  ^3  per 
week  for  their  board.  Some  have  sat  at  the  same  table  with 
myself,  and  refused  to  eat  the  stinking  meat  which  was  occasion- 
ally put  before  us;  but  all  such  I  gave  to  understand  that  a  few 


IN    THE    CANADAS. 


77 


niontlis'  incarceration,  and  consequent  starvation,  would  bring 
tlieni  to  eat  many  articles  wliicli  their  stomachs  had  previously 
rebelled  against.  One  person  told  me  that,  in  a  country  where 
butter  was  sold  for  double  the  amount  it  brought  in  the  Canadas, 
he  had  made  soap  with  butter  which  was  far  superior  to  that 
frequently  placed  upon  the  table  for  our  use.  I  say  frequently, 
because  sometimes  the  market  could  not  furnish  an  article  as  bad 
as  the  standard  quality. 


tl.  io-^ 


OFFICIAL   IMPOSITION. 


Complaining  of  my  board  on  one  occasion,  I  was  told  that  if 
I  did  not  like  it  I  need  not  accept  of  it;  for  I  was  at  liberty  to 
send  to  the  hotel  for  my  meals.  All  this  was  very  true ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  old  "  Grampus  "  knew  that  if  I  did  so  I  would 
be  charged  treble  for  everything  I  ordered,  as  such  is  the  cus- 
tom in  Canada  when  dealing  with  an  imprisoned  debtor.  If  a 
doctor  is  summoned  to  a  prisoner's  bedside,  he  charges  §5  for  a 
single  visit;  and  the  same  rule  is  observed  by  all  whose  services 
are  required  by  a  poor,  helpless  debtor.  The  Jaw  allows  a  jailor 
to  charge  $3  a  week  for  board,  and  no  more ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  it  does  not  prohibit  his  feeding  the  prisoners  with  such 
provisions  as  he  sees  fit  to  purchase,  provided  he  does  not  attempt 
to  starve  them.  The  debtor  is  obliged  to  put  up  with  what  is 
given  him ;  as  the  jailor  well  knows  he  cannot  better  his  condi- 
tion short  of  having  his  meals  sent  from  hotels,  which  the  rea- 
son above  stated  prevents  him  from  doing.  It  is  the  object  of 
the  jailor  to  make  as  much  money  as  possible  out  of  the  debtors 
under  his  charge,  and  he  considers  them  legitimate  objects  for 
plunder.  The  provisions  with  which,  toward  the  last  of  my  im- 
prisonment, I  furnished  myself  at  a  cost  of  lOf  cents  per  day, 
were  very  superior  in  quality  to  what  I  had  been  getting  while 
boarded  by  the  jailor,  when,  also,  I  had  been  compelled  to  pur- 
7  * 


78 


IMI'IUBONSIENT   FOR    DEBT 


i    h: 


h  1  • 


chaso  cheese,  codfi.sh,  a  piece  of  bacon  occasionally,  cakes  of  va- 
rious kinds,  apples,  etc.,  to  make  amends  for  my  scanty  allowance. 


ENOLISU  BRUTES  AND  TRENCH  GENTLEMEN 

A  gentleman  who  was  confined  in  the  same  cell  with  mo  for  a 
short  time  told  me  there  was  a  great  difference  between  the  Eng- 
lish of  Canada  West  and  the  French  of  Canada  East,  so  far  as  the 
treatment  of  prisoners  and  the  conduct  of  jailors  were  concerned. 
This  man  had  once  been  in  jail  in  Quebec  sixteen  days,  before 
imprisonment  for  debt  was  totally  abolished  in  Canada  East;  and 
ho  said  that  every  respectable  and  well-behaved  man  was  taken 
into  the  jailor's  private  apartments,  and  boarded  with  the  faniily, 
beside  being  allowed  the  range  of  the  yard  for  several  hours 
each  day,  to  exercise  and  breathe  the  fresh  air.  Criminals  were 
likewise  allowed  to  go  into  the  yard  every  day.  The  diflerence 
between  an  English  brute  and  a  French  gentleman  can  here  very 
readily  be  seen.  Men  imprisoned  for  debt  under  the  proud  flag 
of  Britain,  no  matter  how  wrongfully,  must  be  treated  by  the 
jailor  as  a  sharper,  or  his  duty  to  the  prisoner,  who  has  been 
made  such  by  the  oath  of  a  perjured  knave,  will  not  be  fulfilled. 
The  people  of  the  country,  or  their  representatives,  did  not  cer- 
tainly intend  that  their  fellow-men  should  be  abused ;  but  from 
two  to  eight  persons  are  sometimes  thrust  into  one  small  apart- 
ment, with  each  a  straw  bed,  a  straw  pillow,  and  two  blankets, 
all  spread  on  the  floor.  All  perform  their  ablutions  in  a  single 
old  tin  pan,  alongside  of  which  is  placed  a  piece  of  soap  and  a 
ragged  towel.  Some  who  are  imprisoned  have  families  in  the 
country,  and  have  been  used  to  living  in  a  decent  and  cleanly 
manner;  while  others  belong  to  that  class  who  live  in  the  midst 
of  filth,  and  bring  rath  them  into  the  prison  swarms  of  the  ver- 
min common  to  their  reeking  haunts.  Clean  and  dirty  people 
are  all  crowded  into  the  same  cell,  there  to  sleep,  eat,  and  live 
together.     Complaint  only  elicits  the  impudent  retort  that  such 


IN    THE  CANADA8 


'!) 


a<3coimiiodations  are  good  enough  for  those  who  do  not  pay  thoir 
debts;  and  that  if  the  prisoner  paid  what  he  owed  hkc  an  honest 
matt;  he  would  be  set  at  liberty.  Nothing  is  said  about  the  dis- 
honest and  perjured  creditor,  but  all  the  abuse  is  heaped  upon 
the  poor  defenceless  debtor. 


i<\ 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   DISHONESTY? 

One  of  my  creditors,  to  whom  I  owed  a  small  sum,  and  who 
had  not  arrested  me,  wrote  me  to  the  effect  that  he  did  not  be- 
lieve I  had  acted  honestly,  or  I  would  not  be  detained  in  jail ; 
and  that  no  man  who  could  prove  himself  to  be  honest  would  be 
held  a  single  day  in  prison  for  debt.  Another  Christian  creditor, 
who  took  a  false  oath,  and  procured  my  arrest,  visited  me  after 
the  lapse  of  some  months,  and  told  me  that  there  was  no  need  at 
all  of  my  being  kept  in  jail;  that  I  should  have  called  a  meeting 
of  my  arresting  creditors,  and  given  up  to  them  all  my  property, 
when  they  would  have  discharged  me  at  once.  This  exceedingly 
honest  and  enlightened  pillar  of  the  Christian  church  (John  L. 
Dolson)  would  have  been  very  much  pleased  if  ho  could  have 
induced  me  to  place  myself  in  that  position.  It  was  their  design 
when  they  arrested  me  to  get  possession  of  all  I  was  worth,  when 
they  would  have  released  me,  only  to  be  again  imprisoned  by 
other  and  dissatisfied  creditors  like  the  one  above  mentioned. 
Had  I  made  an  assignment  of  my  property  for  the  benefit  of  all, 
and  any  of  my  creditors  elected  not  to  accept  under  the  assign- 
ment, they  were  not  barred  by  this  action  from  arresting  and  im- 
prisoning me  for  the  amount  of  their  claims.  It  will  be  seen 
from  this  statement  how  easy  it  is  to  misjudge  others,  and  to 
consider  those  dishonest,  who,  in  reality,  are  only  shielding  them- 
selves from  tricks  and  deception.  The  creditors  who  receive  all 
their  due  will  call  their  debtor  an  honest  man,  while  those  who 
receive  little  or  nothing  will  report  him  to  be  a  rogue.'  I  con- 
sider the  arresting  creditors  to  be  really  the  dishonest  parties, 


I; 


80 


IMPUISONMKNT    FOR    DI.IH 


If  "■' 


In 


l'^ 


¥  ^ 


IK  lit' 


because  thoy  arc  the  reason  ol'  many  creditors  losinj^  the  tiinuimt 
due  thcui,  by  brcakii  ^  down  business  men,  and  scattering  tliisir 
substance,  which  would  otherwise  havo  ^ono  to  pay  tleir  (L-bts. 
,  J  still  think  I  pursued  an  honest  course  (thouj^li  a  iiard  ono  for 
myself),  with  a  set  of  thorougiily  dishonest,  hypocritical  scoun- 
drels. 

GKNEUAL    CHARACTER    OP   IMPRISONED   DEBTORS. 

My  own  obsorvafion,  while  confined  in  the  jail  at  Chatham, 
together  with  the  information  1  collected  from  various  parties, 
led  me  to  believe  tliat  the  majority  of  those  who  are  imprisoned 
for  debt  aro  honest,  upright  men,  who  will  always  meet  their  li- 
abilities as  long  as  they  can  procure  the  moans  of  so  doing.  Such 
men  are  useful  in  society,  and  valuable  to  the  country.  The 
knavisli  portion  of  the  community,  which  it  was  contemplated 
the  law  would  reach,  a!  ways  raana^^e,  some  way  or  other,  to  es- 
cape from  its  clut'^Lf's;  id  they  usually  so  arrange  their  business 
as  to  be  able  to  leave  tl  o  province  unmolested,  and  wcli  supplied 
with  means  abstracted  from  the  pockets  of  others.  This  being 
the  state  of  affairs,  it  will  be  seen  that  injustice,  and  not  justice, 
is  done  by  tho  continuance  of  the  imprisonment  law. 

DISHONESTY   VERSUS    HONESTY. 

EloDzo  Mitton,  of  Kent  County,  a  hard-working,  industrious 
young  Canadian,  born  of  English  parents,  commenced  active  life 
as  a  farmer,  and,  having  a  young  family  to  support,  contracted  a 
debt  of  $65  or  870,  at  the  store  of  Henry  M.  &  Richard  Marsh. 
When  the  time  for  payment  arrived,  Mr.  Mitton  could  not  raise 
the  amount  in  cash,  but  offered  to  pay  the  debt  in  young  cattle, 
or  to  secure  it  by  the  pledge  of  stock  worth  double  the  sum. 
Marsh  offered  to  receive  and  sell  the  cattle,  crediting  Mitton 
with  the  gross  amount  of  sales;  but  Mitton.  ^    -ing  some  kuuw- 


'   >' 


I 


r 


I  ^'-^'--^ 


The  Chatham  Jailor,  Payne,  alias  "Grampus."— r.  80. 


-> 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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l.25||||U      1.6 

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► 

Hiotographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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N? 


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t:  in   the   can  ADAS,    ^^rr^ 


81 


ledge  of  Marsh,  feared  that  he  would  sell  the  whole  for  the 
amount  of  the  debt  alone,  and  therefore  refused  his  assent  to  the 
proposal.  Marsh,  who  cared  nothing  for  an  oath,  and  had  been 
heard  eo  remark  that  he  would  at  any  time  swear  falsely  for  mo- 
ney, immediately  swore  out  a  capias,  and  cast  Mitton  into  prison ; 
where,  however,  he  was  confined  but  a  short  time,  as,  the  debt 
being  small,  he  was  immediately  bailed  out  on  the  limits.  The 
law  gives  a  wrongfully  imprisoned  debtor  his  remedy  in  an  action 
for  damages  against  the  perjured  creditor;  and  accordingly,  Mr. 
Mitton  sued  Marsh  for  damages  and  false  imprisonment.  A  long 
trial  in  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench  resulted  in  the  jury  finding 
a  verdict  for  the  plaintiflF,  assessing  $10  damages,  and  the  costs 
of  suit,  $200,  upon  the  defendant.  Here  is  n  fair  sample  of  Ca- 
nadian justice  —  a  man  is  dragged  from  his  home  and  family  to 
a  jail,  twenty  miles  distant,  on  the  oath  of  a  villain,  and  his  ap- 
peal to  the  law  for  redress  is  answered  by  an  award  of  $10 
damages  for  his  loss  of  time,  loss  of  character,  worriment,  and 
vexation.  His  loss  of  time  was  valued  at  $50,  and  he  was  sub- 
jected to  being  called  a  jail-bird  all  his  life  —  for  all  which  he 
received  the  munificent  compensation  of  $10.  The  lawyers  real- 
ized all  the  profit,  the  honest  but  wronged  client  got  next  to  no- 
thing. Mr.  Mitton  was  confined  within  the  jail  limits  about  two 
years;  and  in  April,  1859,  in  conformity  with  the  law,  he  wub 
obliged  to  re-enter  the  jail,  in  order  to  relieve  his  bail,  and  then 
make  application  to  the  court  for  his  discharge ;  which  he  ob- 
tained after  being  confined  four  weeks.  Lawyers  were  employed 
by  both  parties.  Interrogatories  were  served  on  Mitton  by 
Marsh's  attorney,  and  several  days  were  taken  by  the  former  and 
his  attorney  in  so  answering  them  as  to  satisfy  the  county  judge 
that  the  prisoner  had  surrendered*  all  his  property  tohift  creditor. 
During  the  time  Mr.  Mitton  occupied  my  cell,  if  my  information 
is  correct,  his  other  creditors  behaved  themselves  toward  him  in 
a  highly  honorable  manner,  and  so  managed  matters  that  Marsh 
did  not  obtain  one  dollar.     When  these  men  were  young,  their 


I  i 


82 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR  DEBT 


parents  resided  on  opposite  sides  of  a  road  which  passed  through 
Kidgetown^  Canada  West,  and  they  were  there  brought  up  toge* 
ther.  Neithet  of  them  had  any  intention  of  leaving  the  pro- 
vince, yet  one  used  the  legal  scourge  against  the  playmate  of  his 
youth  in  the  same  manner  as  it  is  wielded  by  grasping  creditors 
against  seven-eighths  of  all  who  are  imprisoned  for  debt.  And 
yet  this  law  is  upheld,  and  remains  upon  the  statute-book,  be- 
cause it  furnishes  jobs  for  lawyers,  who  care  not  how  much  it 
helps  to  ruin  the  business  of  the  count ^^y,  so  that  it  fills  their 
pockets  with  the  coveted  gold. 


BOORS  ALWAYS  REPAY  KINDNESS  WITH  ABUSE. 

When,  in  formex<  years,  Payne  was  a  constable,  and  travelled 
the  country  collecting  from  —  or,  rather,  legally  robbing  —  the 
people,  he  always  made  it  a  point,  when  anywhere  in  the  t  icinity 
of  Ridgetown,  to  stop  over  night  at  the  residence  of  old  Mr. 
Mitton,  who  was  also  originally  from  England.  In  every  in- 
stance he  was  furnished  with  the  best  of  everything  the  house 
contained,  and  his  horse  was  carefully  stabled,  groomed,  and  fed ; 
all  were  anxious  to  maintain  amicable  relations  with  the  much- 
dreaded  bailiff.  Elonzo,  then  a  boy,  always  attended  to  the 
bailiff's  horse,  of  which  he  took  good  care,  and  in  t.^  9  '^orning 
he  always  brought  him  out  to  the  stepping-block,  he''  i  stir- 
rup for  the  mighty  dispenser  of  law,  handed  him  the  whip,  and 
then  politely  bowed  to  him  as  he  rode  away  without  bestowing 
even  a  single  copper  on  the  faithful  and  attentive  lad. 

After  the  lapse  of  some  years,  and  the  boy  had  grown  to  man's 
estate,  he  was  placed  in  the  jail  under  the  charge  of  the  very 
individual  to  whose  wants  he  had  been  so  attentive  when  a  youth. 
How  did  Payne  return  the  favors  received  in  former  years  ?  He 
would  not  supply  the  young  man  with  a  single  article  of  food 
until  he  had  received  the  cash  therefor;  and  when  some  rela- 
tions of  Mr.  Mitton,  who  were  about  journeying  to  the  far  West, 


^:i:  I 


IN   THE  CANADA8. 


88 


with  the  intention  of  there  settling  permanently,  called  at  the 
prison  to  bid  him  farewell,  the  brutish  jailor  refused  them  ad- 
mission into  his  cell,  even  for  a  few  minutes.  They  were 
obliged  to  content  themselves  with  holding  a  conversation 
through  the  iron  bars,  because  it  pleased  an  ungiateful  English- 
man thus  (o  exhibit  his  appreciation  of  past  kindnesses. 


BRUTAL  TREATMENT  OF  AN   INSANE  WOMAN. 

•  A  lady  named  Gobbet,  in  Kent  County,  had  a  drunken  brute 
for  a  husband,  who,  when  in  liquor,  was  so  cross  and  quarrelsome 
that,  if  everything  about  the  house  did  not  exactly  please  him, 
he  would  beat  his  poor  wife  about  the  head  and  body  in  a  most 
shameful  manner.  This  treatment  was  continued  until  the  poor 
woman  became  insane.  Fear  of  her  husband's  brutality  made 
her  desert  her  home,  and  wander  through  the  fields  and  roads 
all  the  time  talking  to  herself  ±n  a  loud  voice.  The  husband, 
like  all  other  drunkards,  was  in  due  time  burned  out  with  liquor, 
and  died  of  delirium  tremens.  The  children  grew  up,  but  done 
nothing  for  their  mother,  alleging  that  they  could  not  keep  her 
at  home ;  though  it  was  whispered  about  that  they  really  did  not 
want  her,  ^  she  was  so  noisy  that  she  disturbed  them.  So  the 
old  crazy  woman  was  left  to  herself,  and  continued  to  wander 
about,  lodging  and  eating  when  and  where  she  could.  Occasion- 
ally some  one  of  the  codfish  aristocracy  would  complain  to  a  ma- 
gistrate that  he  was  disturbed  by  the  ravings  of  this  poor  de- 
mented female,  whereupon  she  would  be  arrested,  and  lodged  in 
jail  for  two,  three,  or  four  months.  When  confined,  her  brain 
became  more  than  usually  excited,  and  she  frequently  disturbed 
the  inmates  of  the  prison  by  her  loud  talk,  and  by  singing  in  a 
high  key.  During  my  stay  in  the  jail  she  served  two  long  terms; 
and  when  I  was  discharged  she  had  not  finished  her  second  pe- 
riod of  probation.     Notwithstanding  her  insanity,  she  read  her 


84 


IMPRISONMENT   FOB    DEBT 


i'tl?    ! 


If  I 


\  t. 


(■  '< 


Bible  daily,  noted  the  passage  of  time  by  her  almanac,  and  done 
her  own  washing,  sewing,  etc. 

Ill-treatment  would  at  times  greatly  excite  her,  and  make  her 
very  noisy  for  a  few  hours.  In  the  early  part  of  her  first  impri- 
sonment, she  was  allowed  the  range  of  the  long  hall  during  the 
day,  as  there  were  then  no  prisoners  in  that  part  of  th'e  building. 
During  the  sitting  of  the  court,  she  was  annoyed  by  men  look- 
ing in  through  the  grated  windows  at  her;  which  she  took  as  a 
great  insult,  and,  catching  up  a  broom,  she  drove  the  handle  be- 
tween the  bars  and  through  the  glass,  into  the  faces  of  the  in- 
truders. This  was  an  offence  which  "  Grampus  "  could  not  over- 
look ;  and  accordingly,  she  was  locked  up  in  a  cell  by  herself, 
where  she  raved  in. the  most  discordant  manner. 

The  second  time  she  was  imprisoned,  she  was  locked  up  in  an 
inner  cell,  on  the  side  of  the  jail  where  the  untried  criminals 
were  placed.  A  negro  and  an  Irishman,  confined  in  the  same 
part  of  the  prison,  were  allowed  to  promenade  every  day  through 
the  long  hall,  with  the  exception  of  that  on  which  Mrs.  Cobbet 
was  allowed  access  to  it  to  do  her  washing;  on  which  occa- 
sions these  men  were  locked  in  their  cells.  Although  the 
poor  woman  frequently  begged  for  her  share  of  exercise  in  the 
hall,  yet  she  was  always  refused,  and  in  quite  a  rough  manner, 
when  the  blood  would  rush  to  her  brain  in  such  torrents  as  to  suf- 
fuse her  face  and  forehead  with  a  purplish  hue.  I  frequently 
told  the  turnkey  that,  with  good  usage,  she  might  be  kept  sane 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  recommended  him  to  let  her  range 
through  the  yard  a  part  of  the  day,  or  to  put  her  upstairs  in 
some  large  room,  where  she  could  see  into  the  village ;  but  such 
leniency  was  out  of  the  question — she  might  damage  something, 
break  a  glass,  or  destroy  some  article  of  equally  trifling  value. 
There  was  no  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  poor  creature — no  hu- 
manity in  the  breast  of  any  of  the  officials  connected  with  the 
jail.    She  complained  bitterly  about  her  food,  and  her  constant 


IN   THE   CANADAS. 


9» 


ory  was  that  she  was  hungry;  and,  indeed;  that  was  the  ooiQ' 
plaint  of  every  one  confined  in  the  jail. 

Mrs.  Cobbet  often  asked  for  such  medicine  as  would  cool  her 
blood  when  excited,  and  she  knew  what  was  necessary  as  well  as 
the  doctor — frequently  better  than  he  did.  Sometimes  the  jailor 
would  call  in  the  prison  physician  as  he  was  passing  the  jail  on 
his  way  home ;  but  that  knowing  functionary  would  only  tell  her 
she  was  crazy,  and  did  not  require  any  medicine;  to  which  she 
would  reply  that  he  was  drunk,  and  did  not  know  what  she 
wanted.  It  was  admitted  by  those  who  knew,  that  Mrs.  Cobbet 
more  frequently  told  the  truth  than  did  the  doctor. 


;         .1-        111         1'?        1.1'>>.' 


Hillman,  the  Turnkey,  striking  an  Insane  Woman  in  the  Jail. 

Once,  when  this  poor  woman  had  been  let  out  into  the  long 
hall  to  wash  her  clothes,  she  refused  to  return  to  her  cell  at  the 
order  of  the  imperious  English  turnkey,  and  resisted  his  efforts 
to  force  her  in,  claiming  that  she  was  entitled  to  exercise  in  the 
long  room.  A  scuffle  ensued  between  them;  and  the  young 
English  gentleman  could  not  readily  force  Mrs.  Cobbet  into  her 
8 


86 


IMPRISONMENT   FOll  DKBT 


i 


It  I 


t.  • 


\i 


•mall  oell,  aa  she  graspod  tightly  tho  iron  door-frumo.  This 
monster  in  human  Bomblance,  finding  that  he  oould  not  master 
her  in  any  other  way,  beat  her  on  the  head  in  a  most  brutal  man- 
ner, as  her  husband  had  done  fourteen  years  previously.  Tho 
law  being  on  his  side,  ho  pounded  the  skull  of  an  insane  woman, 
who  was  fifty-five  or  sixty  years  of  age,  and  not  a  soul  ventured 
to  inquire  why  he  did  so. 

Can  this  be  a  Christian  land,  where  such  deeds  are  committed  I 
can  this  be  a  Christian  people,  who  permit  them  to  be  done  in 
their  midst  1  Savages  abuse  women,  but  civilized  beings  gene- 
rally repudiate  the  idea  of  striking  a  defenceless  female.  What, 
then,  shall  be  said  of  tho  brute  who,  setting  at  defiance  public 
opinion,  tho  usages  of  civilized  society,  the  dictates  of  humanity, 
and  the  teachings  of  Christianity,  wantonly  and  maliciously  mal- 
treats the  mother  of  generations  —  insulting  in  her  person  the 
author  of  his  own  existence  ?  No  honest  man  will  grasp  that 
hand  which  dealt  a  blow  on  a  female  form ;  no  approving  nod 
will  greet  the  appearance  of  a  cowardly  woman-whipper ;  no  word 
of  pleasant  encouragement  will  cheer  the  heart  of  him  who 
steeled  it  to  pity  for  the  su£Perings  of  an  imbecile  of  the  weaker 
sex — the  finger  of  scorn  will  be  pointed  at  him  on  the  high-roads 
and  in  the  by-ways;  he  will  be  jeered  by  the  youth  and  insulted 
by  their  seniors ;  he  will  feel  in  his  own  breast  the  gnawing  of 
that  canker-worm  remorse,  which,  like  a  phosphorescent  fire,  ever 
burning,  but  never  consihning,  makes  a  man's  life  such  a  tor- 
ment to  himself,  that,  cursing  the  past,  and  despairing  of  the 
future,  he  rushes  unbidden  and  unheralded  into  the  presence  of 
his  Maker. 

THE  DIVISION  COURT. 

In  Canada  there  is  a  court  called  the  Division  Court,  which  is 
held  in  each  county  as  often  as  the  county  judge  thinks  proper, 
or  when  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  cases  on  the  docket  to 
pay  the  expenses.     Among  the  recent  amendments  to  the  Act 


e.  This 
ot  master 
utal  man- 
ily.  The 
e  woman, 
veiiturod 


minitted ! 
e  done  in 
ngs  gcne- 
.  What, 
oe  public 
lunianity, 
usly  mal- 
9rson  the 
;rasp  that 
ving  nod 

no  word 
him  who 
e  weaker 
igh-roads 

insulted 
iwing  of 
fire,  ever 
a  tor- 
of  the 
sence  of 


^hich  is 
proper, 
>cket  to 
the  Act 


1    «;^ 


I 


9 
•*« 

a 

H 

e 

i 

i 

I 


I 


IN   THE  CANADAS. 


87 


creating  the  court,  is  one  directing  that  all  debts  under  $100 
shall  bo  sued  out  in  it.  From  February  18,  1859,  until  March 
18,  1859,  eleven  cases  were  tried  in  Toronto  before  this  court; 
the  sums  in  controversy  being  within  the  prescribed  limits.  A 
reference  to  the  facts  will  exhibit  the  operation  of  the  law  under 
the  supervision  of  those  who  were  instrumental  in  making  it, 
and  who,  doubtless,  were  careful  to  see  that  it  was  properly  ad- 
ministered at  the  headquarters  of  the  Government.  I  will  select 
case  No.  6,  on  the  docket,  as  my  first  illustration,  leaving  the 
others  to  be  discussed  on  subsequent  pages;  but  premising  it  by 
stating  that  the  judge  of  a  Division  Court  has  power  to  punish 
a  debtor  by  imprisonment  for  a  definite  number  of  days,  propor- 
tioned to  the  more  or  less  aggravating  circumstances  of  the  case, 
as  affecting  the  creditor. 

A  laborer,  sixty  years  of  age,  who  had  a  wife  and  thirteen 
children,  purchased  a  stove,  at  the  price  of  $20*60,  for  which  he 
gave  his  note.  Not  being  able  to  meet  the  note  at  maturity,  he 
was  sued  by  his  creditor,  and  the  costs,  $12*81,  added  to  the  ori- 
ginal debt,  increased  the  sum  to  32*91.  This  man  was  sentenced 
by  the  judge  to  penal  servitude  for  thirty  days  in  Toronto  jail,  as 
a  punishment  for  not  paying  the  claim.  He  resided  at  a  distance 
of  thirty-five  miles  from  the  prison,  and  himself  and  four  of  his 
children  were  sick,  when  the  sheriff  made  his  appearance  on 
horseback,  dragged  the  poor  old  fellow  from  his  home,  and  drove 
him  before  him  on  foot;  his  wife,  and  as  many  of  the  children 
as  could  walk,  following  after  for  some  distance,  making  the  hills 
resound  with  their  pitiable  cries  and  lamentations.  The  dis- 
tressed family,  seeing  the  utter  uselessness  of  accompanying 
their  head  to  Toronto,  returned  to  their  miserable  log  hut,  there 
to  suffer  mental  as  well  as  physical  torture.  Starvation  they 
could  not  avoid,  as  the  poor  man  had  not  been  employed  for  some 
time  previously,  and,  consequently,  no  store  of  provision  was  on 
hand  for  an  emergency. 


m 


88 


I) 

I 


IMPRISONMENT  rOR  DEBT 


MENDACITY  OF  THE   LAWYERS. 


Whon  a  man  doing  busincMs  in  Canada  goes  to  a  laiiycr  for 
information  and  advico  respecting  the  law  fur  the  ^ir.prisonmcnt 
of  debtors,  ho  will  be  told,  as  I  was,  "They  canr.ot  capias  you, 
although  you  bo  seen  to  pack  up  your  valise  and  proceed  toward 
the  cars.  It  is  indispensable  to  your  business  that  you  travel 
through  the  States  and  di£ferent  parts  of  Canada.  A  creditor 
dare  not  swear  against  you ;  for  by  doing  so  he  risks  imprison- 
ment in  the  penitentiary  for  perjury,  in  addition  to  the  payment 
of  heavy  damages  for  stopping  you  in  the  prosecution  of  your 
lawful  business.  Oh,  no  I  they  cannot  capias  ^014."  But  the 
reader  has  already  learned  how  my  creditors  did  imprison  me  on 
my  return  from  a  business  tour,  and  how  they  did  swear  that  I 
was  about  to  fly  the  country.  Indeed,  I  was  told  by  the  Hon.  (?) 
M'Keller  that  ho  had  the  sanction  of  the  judge  in  saying  that 
he  could  swear  to  such  a  state  of  facts  against  a  man  who  was 
already  in  jail.  I  will  never  again  believe  any  lawyer,  or  take 
his  advice  regarding  any  transaction  which  may  be  productive 
of  future  business  for  him.  Had  I  not  given  credence  to  the 
words  of  a  lawyer,  I  would  have  bound  up  the  parties  with  whom 
I  dealt,  by  written  agreements,  properly  attested,  not  to  issue  a 
capias  against  me  under  any  circumstances.  Such  a  course  I 
could  readily  have  adopted  in  the  outset,  and  it  would  have  saved 
me  from  persecution  and  ruin,  while  my  creditors  would  have 
received  their  money ',  for  a  Canadian  will  sign  any  agreement  in 
order  to  obtain  advances  in  cash.  As  the  word  of  most  of  the 
Canadian  business  men  is  utterly  worthless,  and  they  are  not  re- 
liable in  any  case,  being  devoid  of  integrity  except  where  inte- 
rest rules  them  in  the«  adoption  of  an  opposite  course,  I  would 
advise  all  persons  about  to  transact  any  business  with  them,  not 
to  neglect  securing  their  pitorsonal  safety  by  the  execution  of  such 
bonds  as  I  have  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  remarks. 


IN   THE   CAN  ADAS. 


"URAMPUS"    ROBS   A   LETTKR    BELONGING   TO  JOHN    FIMDLAY, 

A   PRISONER   IN    THE  JAIL. 

The  details  of  this  transaction  will  provo  to  the  reader  how 
little  confidence  can  be  placed  in  the  integrity  of  a  Canadian. 
John  Findlay  was  the  son  of  a  widow  woman  who  emigrated 
from  Pennsylvania  at  an  early  day,  and  settled  in  Lampton 
County,  adjoining  that  of  Kent,  which  was  separated  from  it  by 
the  river  Sydenham.  When  old  Mr.  Findlay  died,  he  left  behind 
him  a  family  of  young  children,  for  their  mother  to  bring  up  in 
a  new  and  sickly  country.  When  John,  the  eldest  son,  became 
of  age,  being  in  debt  to  one  or  two  persons,  he  sold  some  pro- 
perty, intending  to  pay  his  debts  with  the  proceeds  of  the  notes 
he  received  therefor.  In  the  mean  time,  one  of  his  creditors 
sued  him,  and  got  judgment  against  him;  which,  as  usual,  car- 
ried with  it  an  enormous  bill  of  costs.  As  the  suit  was  brought 
in  Kent  County,  the  sheriff,  armed  with  the  writ  of  ca.  sa, 
falsely  sworn  to  by  the  creditor,  proceeded  up  the  river  SQme 
twenty  miles,  and  procured  a  man  to  cross  into  Lampton  County, 
and  decoy  Findlay  over  the  river  into  Kent,  where  he  could  be 
arrested.  The  matter  was  easily  managed,  as  the  young  man, 
having  no  intention  of  running  away,  harbored  not  a  single  sus- 
picion of  foul  play ;  and,  as  soon  as  he  set  foot  on  the  soil  of 
Kent  County,  he  was  arrested  and  conveyed  to  Chatham  jail.  At 
the  time  of  his  seizure,  Findlay  had  in  his  pocket  the  notes  re- 
ceived from  the  purchaser  of  his  property ;  and,  deciding  to  send 
them  home  to  his  mother,  he  enclosed  them  in  a  letter,  which  ho 
handed  to  '< Grampus''  for  conveyance  to  the  post-office,  as  was 
the  usual  practice.  That  worthy,  however,  finding  the  letter  to 
be  more  than  usually  bulky,  broke  it  open,  and  examined  the 
contents ;  after  which,  calling  Findlay  into  the  room  where  he 
was,  he  showed  him  what  he  had  done,  handed  the  notes  back 
to  him,  and  at  the  same  time  counselled  him  to  turn  them  over 
to  his  creditor,  if  he  wished  to  regain  his  liberty.  This  was  ex- 
8* 


m 


'*,  1 


11' 
i  I  i ' 


i  j; 
'  i.i 

Hi! 


m-:  >  ' 


'M: 


00 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR  DEBT 


actly  what  the  creditor  desired.  By  taking  a  false  oath,  he  pro- 
cured the  youth's  imprisonment;  thinking  thereby  to  compel 
him  to  make  an  assignment  of  the  promissory  notes  which  he 
held,  when  the  amount  would  be  fully  half  covered  by  the  costs. 
"Grampus,"  however,  anticipated  the  assignment  by  breaking 
open  the  letter ;  and  he  so  managed  his  cards  as  to  obtain  from 
Findlay  one  of  the  notes,  in  payment  for  four  months'  board,  at 
$3  per  week,  which  time  he  was  an  inmate  of  the  jail.  The 
creditor  endeavored  to  induce  the  youth  to  use  his  influence  with 
his  mother  in  the  procurement  of  a  lien  on  the  homestead,  as  a 
condition  precedent  to  his  discharge ;  but  the  noble  lad  averred 
that  he  would  rather  die  than  do  any  such  act,  as  he  was  not  sure 
his  creditor  might  not,  before  he  had  done  with  her,  rob  her  of 
the  little  she  owned.  Here  the  reader  has  a  beautiful  specimen 
of  the  mode  of  administering  justice  in  Canada  West— first,  the 
creditor  obtains  a  process  of  arrest  by  means  of  a  false  oath  j 
secondly,  the  sheriiBf  executes  the  process  by  the  aid  of  false  re- 
presentations; thirdly,  the  jailor  robs  his  prisoner;  and  fourthly, 
the  creditor  seeks,  by  cunning  arts,  to  place  himself  in  such  a 
position  that  he  can  rob  the  widowed  mother  of  a  poor,  but  honest 
youth. 

ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  TO   ROB  A   WIDOW's   SON.  ^ 

'•'^  The  name  of  this  young  man  has  escaped  my  memory ;  but 
he  lived  with  and  supported  his  mother  and  sister  by  farming 
land  on  shares.  Having  labored  very  assiduously,  he  had  the 
promise  of  reaping  his  reward  in  an  abundant  crop,  when  the 
landlord,  envying  the  youth  his  prospective  good  fortune,  con- 
cocted a  plan  for  driving  him  away,  and  thereby  obtaining  pos- 
session of  part,  if  not  all,  of  his  crop.  To  accomplish  his  pur- 
pose, he  commenced  by  indirectly  quarrelling  with  the  youth; 
but,  as  the  latter  took  no  notice  of  this,  the  brutish  landlord 
commenced  direct  operations  by  turning  the  youth's  horse  out  of 
the  stable  in  which  he  had  a  right  to  keep  him.    This  procedure 


IN   THE   CANADAS. 


m 


"wf 


BO  irritated  the  young  man  that  he  used  strong  language  toward 
his  oppressor;  whereupon  the  latter  nearly  killed  him  by  beating 
him  with  a  stake  thre^  feet  long,  taken  from  a  sleigh.  The 
brutal  and  cowardly  act  excited,  as  it  naturally  would,  the  people 
of  the  entire  neighborhood,  who  advised  a  suit  for  damages. 
After  a  protracted  trial  in  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  the 
youth  obtained  a  verdict  for  damages  to  the  amount  of  3200,  to- 
gether with  the  costs  of  suit,  which  were  about  as  much  more. 
The  doctor  who  attended  him  after  he  was  so  cruelly  beaten  and 
bruised,  brought  in  a  bill  for  services  rendered  amounting  to  340, 
together  with  another  for  witness'  fees,  for  three  or  four  days' 
attendance  at  court,  at  $4  per  day,  the  prescribed  legal  charge. 
The  youth  settled  the  last  bill,  and  paid  about  $20  on  account  of 
the  first.  M'Crea  was  the  attorney  of  the  plaintiflF,  and  after  the 
suit  was  decided  he  tried  to  induce  the  youth  to  assign  the  judg- 
ment to  him,  in  order  that  he  might  collect  it,  and  secure  his 
costs  and  fee.  The  young  man,  however,  had  learned  something 
of  M'Crea's  disposition  to  rob  every  one  who  gave  him  the. op- 
portunity, and  refused  compliance,  desiring  M'Crea  to  furnish 
him  a  bill,  when  he  would  pay  him  his  fee;  but  the  cunning 
lawyer,  for  reasons  best  known  to  himself,  declined  doing  as  re- 
quested. Failing  in  this  manoeuvre,  M'Crea  induced  the  doctor, 
u  drunken,  worthless  scamp,  to  swear  out  a  capias  against  the 
youth,  and  put  him  in  jail,  as  a  means  not  only  of  forcing  the 
judgment  from  him,  but  also  of  absorbing  the  entire  amount  in 
costs.  The  young  man  was  locked  up  in  a  Canada  jail,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  a  never-failing  method  of  bringing  people  to 
terms;  but,  as  he  exhibited  indisputable  evidence  that  he  had 
paid  the  doctor  one-half  the  amount  of  his  bill,  and  only  desired 
an  opportunity  of  proving  that  the  amount  sworn  to  was  in  excess 
of  the  real  debt,  in  a  few  weeks  he  procured  bail  to  stand  his 
trial,  under  which  he  was  confined  within  the  jail  limits.  The 
result  of  the  suit  I  did  not  learn ;  but  enough  has  been  stated 
to  exhibit  the  manner  in  which  the  law  is  used  by  rascally  law- 


if 


I: 


02 


IMPllISONMENT   FOR   DKIJT 


yers  to  wring  from  their  clients  and  others  the  last  cent  they 
have  in  the  world  j  and  for  this  purpose  they  scruple  not  to  beg- 
gar families,  and  reduce  them  to  the  very  verge  of  starvation 
In  extremely  warm  weather,  the  poor  old  widowed  mother  of 
this  persecuted  youth  frequently  walked  six  or  eight  miles  to 
bring  her  son  something  to  eat,  although  she  had  barely  ragj 
enough  on  her  person  to  hide  her  nakedness.  Overheated,  tired 
and  covered  with  dust,  when  she  arrived  at  the  jail  this  pooi 
lady  was  an  object  of  commiseration  to  every  charitable  beholder, 
and  would  havt  excited  pity  in  any  breast  less  steeled  to  the  finer 
feelings  of  humanity  than  are  those  of  Canadian  jailors  and  Ca- 
nadian lawyers.  Another  debtor  aided  me  in  feeding  and  ad- 
vising the  youth  how  to  manage  his  affairs,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
robbery  planned  by  the  legal  bandit  who  had  been  his  counsel. 


V':*^*      I  »'i|'^--J-  '%;»*  3-^      '^*^ 


A   SHERIFF   SEIZING   A   LADY'S   BED. 


fvV'ii'u 


■'.(■AW'> 


A  poor  man,  being  unable  to  pay  a  debt  when  required  so  to 
do,  was  sued  by  his  creditor,  who  obtained  a  judgment,  upon 
which  an  execution  was  issued,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
sheriff,  with  directions  to  distrain  the  household  goods  of  the 
debtor,  unless  the  amount  of  the  judgment  and  costs  was  paid  in 
cash.  The  gallant  officer  made  a  descent  upon  the  premises  at 
a  time  when  he  knew  the  man  was  away  from  home,  attending 
to  his  daily  avocations ;  and,  notwithstanding  he  saw,  immedi- 
ately upon  entering  the  house,  that  the  wife  of  the  tenant  was 
likely  soon  to  be  taken  sick,  for  which  event  all  necessary  prepa- 
ration had  been  made,  yet  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  in  tell- 
ing her  that  he  held  an  execution,  and  intended  to  seize  all  the 
goods  in  the  house.  To  this  vandalism  the  lady  strongly  ob- 
jected; but  the  sheriff  flew  into  a  passion,  as  all  loyal  officers  do 
when  interference  is  attempted  with  their  duty  to  the  laws  of  her 
Majesty's  provinces,  and,  making  a  rush  toward  the  lady's  bed, 
he  seized  it,  with  the  intention  of  carrying  it  out  of  the  house. 


IN   TVr      'ANAT>AS. 


■v.-f.u  -y 


>..*...    J 


■  '■.■r,n>> 


Ui  . 


(  •  ^  ;■' 


i^-i^'ytrti'iCii 


Sheriff  robbing  a  Lady  of  Inn-  Bed. 


The  lady,  whose  temper  was  roused  by  the  brutality  of  such  an 
act,  at  a  period  when  even  the  brute  creation  seem  to  respect  the 
comfort  of  femininity,  grasped  one  end  of  the  bed,  and  endea- 
vored to  wrest  it  from  the  possession  of  the  oflGicer.  The  struggle 
can  bettor  be  imagined  than  described,  and  resulted,  as  all  such 
contests  usually  do,  in  a  complete  sacking  of  the  house ;  every 
dollar's  worth  of  furniture,  etc.,  being  removed  from  the  pre- 
mises. As  might  be  supposed,  the  excitement  of  the  wife 
brought  on  a  premature  accouchement,  and  she  was  delivered  of 
a  child  the  same  night.  Her  neighbors,  with  commendable 
charity,  provided  for  her  necessities,  by  the  supply  of  bed,  bed- 
clothes, and  such  furniture  as  was  indispensable  to  her  comfort, 
beside  waiting  upon  her  with  untiring  devotion  until  she  regained 
her  former  health  and  strength.  This  narrative  I  have  from  the 
lips  of  a  lady  who  was  present  at  the  accouchement,  and  whose 
veracity  may  be  relied'  upon.  The  daughters  of  Brother  Jona- 
than had  better  settle  in  the  land  where  negro  slavery  is  an  in- 
stitution, than  trust  themselves  within  the  boundaries  of  a  pro- 


■■:■     I" 


^li 


.  I' 


94 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   DEBT 


vince  where  laws  are  made  for  the  benefit  of  rogues ;  where  law- 
yers are  knaves,  and  judges  their  abettors;  where  creditors  are 
Shylocks  in  miniature,  and  sheriflFs  their  brutal  tools;  where  jails 
are  counterparts  of  the  regions  of  Pluto,  and  jailors  delight  in 
inflicting  torture  upon  unfortunate  humanity. 


A    SHERIFF     SEIZING    THE    DISHES    AND    VICTUALS    ON    THE 

FAMILY  TABLE. 

The  details  of  the  case  here  presented  to  the  reader  will  ex- 
hibit in  proper  colors  the  heartlessness  of  executive  officers  in 
Canada,  and  their  valiant  conduct  when  backed  by  legal  autho- 
rity. An  execution  having  been  sued  out  against  a  poor  man 
who  barely  maintained  his  family  by  incessant  toil,  at  pitiful 
wages,  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  sheriflF,  with  instruction  to 
distrain  on  his  goods  and  chattels.  This  officer,  who  with  the 
cunning  of  a  fox  united  the  cowardice  of  a  cat,  watched  until 
the  coast  was  clear,  and  the  male  head  of  the  family  away  from 
home.  Entering  when  the  mother  and  her  little  ones  were  eat- 
ing their  scanty  dinner,  he  seized  and  carried  out  the  few  things 
not  in  immediate  use ;  at  the  same  time  commanding  the  woman 
and  her  children  to  hurry  and  get  out  of  the  way,  as  he  wanted 
the  table  at  which  they  were  seated,  with  what  it  contained. 
Naturally  enough,  the  poor  woman  spoke  her  mind  to  him  very 
freely;  whereupon,  to  vent  his  spleen,  he  threw  the  children 
hither  and  thither,  scraped  together  the  dishes  and  their  con- 
tents, and  putting  the  whole  into  the  cupboard,  carried  it  away. 
At  the  sale  of  the  goods,  the  cupboard  and  its  contents  were 
auctioned  oflF  in  one  lot;  but  the  purchaser  returned  the  whole 
to  the  former  owner,  with  the  exception  of  a  tin  bowl,  which 
contained  a  very  small  quantity  of  sugar,  and  which  was  subse- 
quently shown  to  me.  In  Canada  West,  no  poor-houses  are  built 
for  the  shelter  of  the  indigent;  but  they  are  robbed  of  furniture 
and  food,  turned  into  the  street  or  the  road,  and  left  to  die  like 


IN   THE   CANADA8.      . 


1-   c; 


Sheriff  taking  tlie  Dishes  and  Victuals  from  the  Family  irhile  at  thoir  Dinner. 

dogs;  when  it  is  a  source  of  congratulation  that  the  country  is 
rid  of  such  poor  devils.  Emigrants  from  Europe,  let  me  advise 
you  to  set  not  your  feet  in  this  inhospitable  region,  where  the 
current  of  human  kindness  seems  tp  have  frozen  in  the  hearts 
of  the  English  officials :  better  brave  the  Indian  hatchet  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Kocky  Mountains,  or  the  burning  rays  of  a  tropical 
sun,  than  expose  yourselves  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  race  which, 
like  that  of  Ishmael,  plunders  the  defenceless  and  crouches  to 
the  powerful. 


iil 


}-\ 


:*W  <i 


;      ANOTHER   CASE   OP  OFFICIAL   VANDALISM. 

This  sheriflF  held  an  execution  against  a  man  whose  wife  had 
just  been  confined ;  and,  scorning  to  take  the  woman's  bed  from 
under  her  at  such  a  time,  he  magnanimously  waited  a  day  or  two, 
until  death  removed  her  from  it.  When  the  babe  was  but  three 
days  old,  he  stripped  the  house  of  everything  it  contained,  not- 
withstanding there  was  in  it  a  large  family  of  very  small  chil- 


m 


IMPHlKONiMKNT   mil   DKHT 


dren.  The  friends  of  the  father,  resident  in  the  United  Slates, 
came  over  to  Canada,  and  took  the  children  to  their  own  homes, 
where  they  were  properly  cared  for,  while  their  father  commenced 
life  again  in  Illinois,  where  he  has  since  amassed  a  handRonio 
property.  Every  year  hundreds  of  Canadians  immigrate  to  Illi- 
nois, and  many  more  would  foUow  their  example  if  they  hud  the 
necessary  funds. 


OFFICIAL  SACRIFICE   OP  PROPERTY. 

A  man  in  Canada,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  owed  a  debt 
of  $14,  for  which  his  oooking-stove  was  seized  by  a  bailiff,  and 
sold  for  $4.  The  bi|l  of  oosts  was  as  follows :  For  carting  stove 
to  place  of  sale,  ^1-50;  court  charges,  $2*76;  bailiff ^s  fee  for 
selling,  $3-75;  total  costs,  $7-50.  The  debt,  originally  $14,  was, 
by  this  operation,  increased  to  $17'60,  while  the  poor  debtor  lost 
his  stove,  which  probably  cost  him  $25  or  $30.  This  case  is  a 
fair  specimen  of  the  general  opctation  of  the  law.  *    v 


it 


REVERENCE   OF  CANADIAN   OFFICIALS   FOR  THE   BIBLE. 


.  i 


A  Mr.  Dodge  owed  a  debt  of  $3,  which  the  addition  of  costs 
of  suit  increased  to  probably  double  that  sum.  For  this  the 
bailiff  seized  books  to  the  value  of  $40;  charitably  inferring 
that  Mr.  Dodge  would  rather  part  with  books  than  with  beds. 
But  when  the  latter  saw  among  the  number  his  family  Bible, 
which  had  cost  him  $10,  he  objected  to  letting  it  go,  and  ex- 
claimed against  such  injustice.  The  humane  hailijf,  however, 
knowing  where  to  pinch  a  poor  debtor  in  order  to  squeeze  the 
money  out  of  his  pocket,  or  that  of  some  of  his  friends,  sold  the 
\vhole  of  the  books,  Bible  included,  for  $7 -324,  and  thus  closed 
the  account.  This  servant  of  the  recognised  head  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  whose  religion  is  based  on  the  Bible,  who  took  his 
oath  of  office  on  the  Bible,  and  who  professes  to  think  the  Bible 


?   IN    THE   CANADA8. 


97 


'n>V     ,,;»J    .-'t;.:  j?     ^  IV-C^:: 


\ ;.' 


■11!    ri 


'^iJ'l 


Bailiff  Mising  Dodge's  Bible.  ' 

a  Decessary  aid  to  the  salvation  of  man,  took  from  Mr.  Dodge 
the  only  Bible  in  his  possession,  and  which  he  was  desirous  to 
keep,  and  sold  it  for  a  pittance  to  some  Gentile,  or  probably  to 
a  Jew  dealer  in  old  clothes,  etc.  '<  Oh,  consistency,  thou  art  a 
jewel!" 

A  few  years  subsequently,  Mr.  Bodge  having  in  the  mean  time 
worked  diligently,  and  accumulated  some  little  of  this  world's 
goods,  another  soissure  of  his  effects  was  made.  This  occurred 
in  March,  1859.  Furniture  valued  at  $300  was  sold  for  $104, 
from  which,  the  costs  of  suit  being  deducted,  only  $79  75  were 
left  to  pay  the  original  debt.  Desirable  goods  will  sometimes 
yield  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  when  the  costs  and  expenses  absorb 
twenty-five  cents  j  leaving  to  the  creditor  but  twenty-five  cents 
on  the  dollar  as  applicable  to  the  payment  of  his  claim.  The 
property  disappears  ^  the  minions  of  the  law  swallow  the  oyster, 
9  Q 


98 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


and  the  creditor  is  presented  with  the  shell;  while  the  poor 
debtor  is  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  much  in  debt  as  he  was  before 
the  seizure 


A  DEBTOR  PREVENTED  PROM    SEEING  THE  BODY  OF   HIS   OWN 
DAUGHTER,  WHO  WAS  BURNED  TO  DEATH. 

Mr.  Mason,  a  resident  of  Westmeath,  Canada  West,  was  ar- 
rested, and  confined  in  jail  by  his  creditors,  but  subsequently 
bailed  out  within  the  jail  limits,  which  did  not  permit  his  rejoin- 
ing his  family,  who  resided  beyond  the  prescribed  boundary. 
While  thus  separated  from  them,  the  dwelling  in  which  they  re- 
sided took  fire  in  the  night,  during  the  month  of  February,  1858, 
and  Mr.  Mason's  daughter,  nine  years  of  age,  together  with  his 
sister-in-law,  perished  —  the  latter  in  the  burning  building,  the 


HouM  on  Fire,  and  family  perishing  in  the  Flames. 

former  in  a  few  hours  after  she  was  removed  from  it.  Mrs. 
Mason  and  her  son,  a  young  lad,  with  difficulty  effected  their  es- 
cape, though  both  were  very  severely  burned.     The  Gfobcy  Ca- 


IN   THE  CANADA8 


99 


nada  West,  in  its  issue  of  February  22,  1858,  while  detailing 
this  sad  oocurrenoe,  makes  the  subjoined  comment  on  the  inhu- 
manity of  Mr.  Mason's  creditors : 

<'  What  makes  this  case  appear  harder  still,  Mr.  Mason  him- 
self, owing  to  the  barbarous  nature  of  the  law  of  arrest,  has  been 
kept  within  the  jail  limits  for  these  two  years  past;  and,  although 
his  daughter's  corpse  and  that  of  his  sister-in-law  lay  in  a  neigh- 
bor's house,  awaiting  burial,  and  his  wife  was  depending  on  the 
hospitality  of  a  cold  world  for  shelter  from  the  winter  frost,  and 
was  hardly  expected  to  survive  many  days,  Mr.  Mason  dare  not 
leave  ihe  limits  prescribed  hy  a  tyrannical  law,  to  console  or 
sympathize  with  the  partner  of  his  bosom  in  her  sore  bereave- 
ment." 

I  have  been  informed  that,  when  he  desired  permission  from 
his  creditors  to  go  to  the  place  where  lay  the  bodies  of  two  of 
his  family,  and  attend  to  their  burial,  they  told  him  to  first  as- 
semble his  friends,  and  get  from  them  the  means  to  pay  his 
debts ;  the  cancellation  of  which  must  be  a  condition  precedent 
to  the  grant  of  full  liberty  to  go  where  he  pleased.  How  bare- 
facedly do  these  wretchet  violate  the  precept  of  the  Saviour : 
"  Do  unto  others  as  you  would"  that  others  should  do  unto  you." 


Ik 


A   LADY  AND   HER  THREE   CHILDREN   IMPRISONED   FOR  DEBT 
—  CHARACTERISTIC   INHUMANITY   OP  AN   ENGLISHMAN.       , 

A  Mr.  Hart,  a  prime  specimen  of  Anglo-Saxon  character,  mar- 
ried a  widow  lady  residing  in  the  city  of  Hamilton,  Canada  West^ 
who  was  established  in  the  business  of  selling  English  manufac> 
tured  goods  on  commission.  The  first  husband  of  the  lady  had 
commenced  the  business,  and  after  his  death  it  was  continued  by 
his  wife ;  who,  like  many  others  of  her  countrywomen,  was  well 
qualified  to  do  so.  As  soon  after  his  marriage  as  a  favorable  op- 
portunity ofi^ered,  Hart  gathered  together  all  the  cash  then  on 
hand  in  the  store  and  in  bank,  collected  every  dollar  he  could  on 


100 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


book  accounts  and  past  due  notes,  and,  with  a  very  large  purse, 
took  his  departure,  no  one  knew  whither,  leaving  his  wife  with 
one  child,  the  offspring  of  her  last  marriage,  and  two  girls,  her 
children  by  the  first  husband.  Despoiled  of  all  her  available 
resources,  when  the  bills  for  goods  purchased  fell  due,  she  could 
not  meet  them,  and,  consequently,  some  of  her  creditors  procured 
a  writ  of  capias  to  be  served  on  her,  under  which  she  was  impri< 
Bonod  in  the  jail  at  Hamilton,  while  all  the  goods  she  had  in  her 
store  were  seized.  This  affair  occurred  in  August,  1850 ;  and, 
as  mi^ht  be  expected  of  a  mother,  she  took  with  her  into  the 
prison  her  three  children,  the  youngest,  a  boy,  being  then  at  the 
breast.  In  January,  1858,  she  was  discharged  from  jail,  having 
been  confined  nearly  seven  years  and  five  months  because  she 
was  prevented  from  paying  her  debts  by  the  inhumanity  and  ras- 
cality of  an  Englishman  whom  she  was  so  foolish  as'  to  marry. 
The  loss  of  most  of  her  means  by  the  act  of  the  scoundrel  whom 
she  had  loved  "not  wisely,  but  too  well,"  was  not  deemed  a  suf- 
ficient punishment  for  a  frail  woman,  but  rascally  lawyers,  stony- 
hearted judges,  and  Shylock  creditors  must  needs  combine  toge- 
ther for  the  purpose  of  torturing  her  ttill  more ;  and — will  it  be 
credited !  —  the  refinement  of  thdir  cruelty  far  exceeded  that  of 
the  brute  who  had  sworn  to  love,  cherish,  and  protect  her.  She 
might,  by  industry,  economy,  and  steady  perseverance,  have  re- 
covered from  the  blow  which  he  had  aimed  at  her  prosperity ; 
but  no  act  of  hers,  no  effort  of  the  will,  no  continuity  of  exer- 
tion, could  save  her  from  the  ruin  in  which  she  was  steeped  by 
the  savages  to  whom  she  owed  a  few  atoms  of  metallic  dross,,  for 
the  possession  of  which  avaricious  men  sell  their  souls  into  eter- 
nal bondage  to  the  Prince  of  Hell.  During  her  imprisonment, 
this  unfortunate  lady  earned  her  maintenance  by  the  use  of  her 
needle,  being  patronised  by  many  of  the  ladies  of  Hamilton,  who 
also  gave  her  some  little  presents.  Her  daughters  went  to 
school ;  for  which  purpose  they  were  liberated  in  the  morning, 
returning?  to  the  jail  regularly  at  night  to  lodge  with  their  mo- 


V    IN   THE  0ANADA8. 

fcher;  and  when  the  boy  was  old  enough,  he  accompanied  his 
sisters.  When  at  length  the  mother  was  discharged,  the  girls 
whom  she  had  taken  with  her  into  the  prison  were  young  ladies ; 
having  grown  up  and  expanded  into  women  while  immured  within 
the  walls  of  a  jail.  The  lady  herself,  during  the  entire  period 
of  her  incarceration,  never  once  breathed  the  air  of  liberty,  how- 
much  soever  her  soul  yearned  thereafter.  Her  principal  creditor 
became  wealthy,  retired  from  business,  and  went  to  Europe,  to 
spend  the  evening  of  his  life  in  luxury;  leaving  the  woman 
whom  he  had  so  foully  wronged  to  rot  in  jail.  I  visited  the  pri- 
son in  June,  1859,  but  could  prooare  no  information  from  the 
churlish  John  Bull  who  presides  over  the  destinies  of  its  in- 
mates ;  he  would  not  even  t?ll  me  how  she  obtained  her  libera- 
tion. A  gentleman  Qonversant  with  all  the  details  has  since  as- 
sured me  that  she  was. discharged  under  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
specially  passed  for  the  purpose;  as  the  county,  sheriff,  and  jailor 
would  be  held  liable  to  pay  the  debt  were  she  otherwise  liberated. 


THE  PROPRIETOR  OF  THE  ROYAL  EXCHANQE  HOTEL,  CHATHAM. 

Joseph  Pritchacd,  Esq.,  prdprietor  of  the  Eoyal  Exchange 
Hotel,  Chatham,  Canada  West,  is  a  native  of  England,  where  he 
filled  the  position  of  butler  to  two  different  gentlemen  during  the 
terms  of  their  natural  lives,  and  was  about  consummating  an 
agreement  with  a  third,  to  fill  the  same  high  position  in  his 
household,  when  the  gentleman,  remarking  the  ex-butler's  ex- 
treme corpulency,  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  had  been 
acquired  at  the  expense  of  former  employers,  and,  therefore, 
pointedly  refused  to  entrust  him  with  the  keys  of  his  wine-cellar 
and  pantry.  This  trivial  circumstance  so  much  affected  the  spi- 
rits of  Mr.  P.,  that  he  resolved  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  England 
from  his  shoes,  and  emigrate  to  a  land  where  every  man  is  his 
own  butler ;  and  on  landing,  he  really  looked  as  if  he  had,  stowed 
in  the  immense  receptacle  which  hung  beneath  his  breast-bone, 
9*  : 


102 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


'/   r 


•^^ 


•Hfi-f'^^^ 


Josetih  I'ritcbard. 

the  contents  of  one-half  the  pantries  and  wine-oellars  of  Eng- 
land. As  the  high-toned  Britisher  could  find  nothing  in  the 
United  States  to  equal  what  he  had  been  used  to  in  glorious  Eng- 
land, he  turned  his  back  on  the  people,  and  settled  in  Chatham, 
Canada  West ;  where  he  became  one  of  the  codfish  aristocracy, 
and  opened  the  Royal  Exchange  Hotel — an  establishment  which 
does  a  very  meagre  amount  of  business,  of  a  very  ordinary  cha- 
racter, and  the  host  of  which  charges  exorbitant  prices  for  ex- 
tremely poor  accommodations.  When  I  first  went  to  Chatham, 
I  put  up  with  him,  and  therefore  feel  competent  to  speak  con- 
cerning himself  and  his  house,  from  an  experience  of  six  months 
previous  to  my  incarceration.  I  furnished  my  own  room,  an 
apartment  six  feet  by  eight,  and  paid  him  38  per  week  board. 
In  the  pursuit  of  my  business,  I  brought  him  numerous  cus- 
tomers, always  treated  him  with  marked  respect,  never  laid  a 


IN    TIIK   OANADA»<. 


108 


s  cus- 
laid  a 


straw  in  his  way,  and  never  once  disagrcH  with  him,  m  that  was 
not  my  way  of  doing  business.  Aftnr  I  was  rnst  into  prison,  I 
summoned  him  to  my  cell,  and  paid  him  his  bill,  whioh  amounted 
to  928.  In  order  to  repay  mo  in  his  English  way  for  all  tho 
good  I  had  done  him  during  the  previous  three  years,  whenever 
any  of  my  fViends,  in  passing  through  Canada  on  the  G.  W.  K.  U., 
stopped  at  Chatham  to  see  me,  and  put  up  at  his  house,  whioh 
was  in  the  way  of  travellers,  and  the  landlord  of  whieh  could  be 
seen  as  readily  as  the  house,  he  would,  in  answer  to  inquiries  re- 
specting me,  say  everything  possible  to  detract  from  my  reputa- 
tion —  of  which  they  invariably  told  me  when  they  visited  my 
cell.  On  one  occasion,  having  some  fifteen  or  twenty  persons  at 
dinner  on  each  side  of  his  table,  he  being  seated  on  a  high  arm- 
chair at  the  head  of  the  board,  as  was  his  usual  practice,  an  East- 
ern gentleman,  with  whom  I  was  intimate,  but  who  was  in  no 
way  acquainted  with  Pritchard,  asked  him  how  I  (Mr.  Brown) 
was  getting  along.  He  made  answer,  before  the  entire  company, 
that  I  was  nearly  rotten,  and  that  he  hoped  I  would  be  kept  in 
jail  until  the  flesh  fell  from  my  bones ;  as  should  any  man  who 
did  not  pay  his  honest  debts.  Of  course,  my  friend  made  no 
reply.  This  fellow  (Pritchard),  and,  in  fact,  almost  any  person 
in  Canada,  will  condemn  a  man  who  is  imprisoned  by  his  credit- 
^  ors,  without  knowing  anything  relating  to  the  case,  or  whether 
the  impression  they  are  conveying  to  a  stranger  is  true  or  false ; 
and  in  this  case  my  slanderer  was  nut  cognizant  of  the  fact  that 
I  had  o£fered  to  settle  with  my  creditors. 

Reader,  you  have  here  a  fair  specimen  of  the  treatment  whioh 
an  Englishman  of  Pritchard's  description  will  give  the  character 
of  any  person  after  their  departure  from  his  house,  and  he  has 
ceased  to  realiz;e  anything  from  them.  The  slander,  ir  only  ox- 
pressed  before  acquaintances,  would  not  work  much  harm ;  but 
this  does  not  satisfy  the  disseminator  of  evil  reports  and  lies  j 
he  must  needs  poison  the  minds  of  strangers,  and  prepossess 


104 


IMriUSONMENT   FOU  l)£liT 


w 


ijlii' 


li''ll 

n 


them  against  a  man  whom  thoy  have  never  seen,  but  whom  they 
may  know  by  reputation ;  thus  disposing  them  to  shun  any  con- 
tact in  the  future.  r  .  jmti'.Tjr 
This  ancient  butler,  now  sixty-five  years  of  age,  has  about  him 
many  of  the  traits  of  character  so  ably  delineated  by  Shakspearo 
in  the  person  of  Falstaff,  the  valiant  knight.  One  of  his  innocent 
peculiarities  is,  to  request  a  customer  to  purchase  a  bottle  of  his 
London  Porter  at  four  shillings,  suggesting  that  it  will  make 
a  nice  drink  for  both  ;  and  when  a  customer  calls  a  friend  up  to 
the  bar,  if  he  lays  down  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  to  pay  for  two 
drinks,  the  bec^-eating  butler  will  say,  "I  will  take  a  drink  my- 
self;" when,  wishing  the  individual  good  health,  long  life,  and 
a  safe  journey  over  Jordan,  he  will  scrape  the  quarter  into  his 
till,  with  the  remark,  "  This  is  just  the  change."  This  practice 
is  well  known  among  the  travelling  public  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  passing  that  way,  and  they,  of  course,  will  avoid  the  place  j 
but  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  locality  are  informed 
that  Thomas  Larke,  of  Chatham,  and  Thomas  Mason,  at  the 
Station,  keep  very  excellent  houses,  are  extremely  reasonable  in 
their  charges,  and  may  always  be  found  at  home. 

:i'l   •■[■&'     ./hi-y. 

DIFFERENT   CLASSES   OF   ENGLISH   IN   CANADA. 

Among  the  English  people  of .  Canada  there  are  different 
grades.  The  first  comprises  what  are  called  gentlemen,  and  they 
are  such  in  every  sense  of  the  word ;  being  straightforward,  re- 
liable people,  who  are  approachable  in  business  relations  or  in  the 
social  circle,  put  on  no  assumed  dignity,  and  treat  with  equal 
courtesy  all  with  whom  they  come  in  contact,  be  they  rich  or  be 
they  poor.  In  a  word,  they  are  just  such  a  people,  gifted  by 
nature  with  education,  talents,  enterprise,  skill,  and  energy,  as 
would,  if  exerting  a  preponderating  influence,  build  up  the  poli- 
tical  and  social  condition  of  any  nation.  .s         u    v  = 

The  second  grade  is  composed  of  those  who  have  been  de- 


IN    THE   CANADAS.       '  ?U 


105 


graded  from  the  ranks  of  the  first  class,  or,  mushroom- like,  have, 
with  a  fungous  growth,  risen  from  the  obscurity  of — perhaps  a 
Newgate  ancestry,  or  the  nobility  of  Botany  Bay.  These  crea- 
tures will  take  advantage  of  their  fellow-man  whenever  they  find 
an  opportunity  of  so  doing,  and  in  no  case  are  they  ever  reliable. 
Their  word,  like  the  written  contracts  they  execute,  is  not  worth 
a  straw;  and  so  practised  are  they  in  all  sorts  of  contemptible 
and  base  tricks,  that  those  who  deal  with  them  must  needs  keep 
a  strict  watch  over  their  movements  if  they  wish  to  escape  being 
plundered.  This  class  is  better  known  by  the  name  of  "  codfish 
aristocracy;"  and  its  members  may  generally  be  distinguished 
in  any  mixed  society  by  the  angle  at  which  their  nasal  organs 
are  elevated  —  as  though  they  loathed  the  smell  of  the  common 
beings  with  whom  they  were  compelled  by  natural  and  irreversi- 
ble laws  to  associate.  Devoid  of  honor,  ungifted  with  talents, 
either  natural  or  acquired,  proverbially  mendacious,  greedy, 
grasping,  avaricious,  cruel,  and  vindictive  to  the  last  degree, 
measuring  everything  and  every  one  by  the  filthy  standard  of 
lucre,  this  class,  though  possessing  an  ample  sufficiency  of  worldly 
substance,  are  yet  poor  indeed ;  because  unendowed  with  a  single 
share  in  that  mine  of  wealth,  whose  treasures  are  lavished  only 
on  those  true  men  who  act  justly,  live  uprightly,  and  practise  all 
the  cardinal  virtues,  among  which  charity  shines  a*s  a  conspicu- 
ous star.  Instead  of  being  rated  as  the  second,  the  "codfish 
aristocracy  should  be  considered — what  in  reality  they  are — the 
very  lowest  class.  '^  •'^'^ '  '  ' 

Those  composing  the  third  class  are  the  honest  farmers,  me- 
chanics, and  manufacturers;  who,  though  mainly  uneducated, 
are  well  deserving  of,  and  really  should  have,  a  place  in  the  first 
class.  In  Canada,  it  is  this  class  that  creates  the  wealth  which 
the  others  spend,  and  none  could  be  so  illy  spared  from  the  com- 
munity. Herein  may  be  found  centred  all  the  virtue  of  the  land, 
in  many  cases  combined  with  natural  talents  of  such  a  high  order 
that,  did  but  an  opportunity  offer,  they  would  blaze  forth  with 


106 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


i'lH 


l:if 


such  power  as  entirely  to  obscure  the  farthing  rushlights  of  the 
second  class,  who  arrogate  to  themselves  the  titles  of  orators  and 
statesmen.  These  men  are  ever  the  pioneers  of  civilization,  un- 
dergoing privation,  facing  danger,  and  incurring  risks,  before 
which  those  calling  themselves  their  superiors  would  quail;  and 
yet  no  other  class  is  so  much  oppressed  and  degraded  by  the  ope- 
ration of  infamous  laws.  v    , 

There  is  yet  another  subdivision,  not  properly  a  class,  com- 
posed of  pure  English  stock,  but  who  marry  females  and  convert 
them  into  slaves.  Not  regarding  them  as  partners  for  life,  en- 
titled equally  with  themselves  to  a  share  of  the  comforts  and 
pleasures  of  this  world,  they  keep  their  poor  unfortunate  wives 
constantly  immured  between  four  walls,  performing  the  most 
menial  offices  and  the  most  wearying  drudgery.  I  have  heard  a 
young  Englishman  ask  if  a  marriageable  lady  was  a  good  worker, 
just  as  if  about  to  buy  a  horse  or  an  ass;  but  not  a  word  was 
said  about  her  education,  talents,  refinement,  virtues,  etc.,  which, 
in  the  estimation  of  civilized  men,  are  matters  of  great  moment. 


\\' 


MEAN    AND    CONTEMPTIBLE    ACTION    OF  A   MEMBER    OF    THE 
ENGLISH    "CODFISH   ARISTOCRACY." 

In  the  town  of  Orford,  Canada  West,  were  settled  two  or 
three  families  who  had  emigrated  thither  from  Ireland,  where 
\hey  had  been  intimates  and  associates  from  early  childhood. 
Being  practical  farmers,  and  in  good  circumstances  when  they  ar- 
rived, they  selected  and  settled  on  a  large  tract  of  land,  located 
on  a  back  road,  in  a  new  and  uncleared  part  of  the  town,  where 
they  soon  made  a  large  opening  into  the  woods,  built  fences, 
houses,  and  barns,  and,  in  fact,  laid  out  very  comfortable  farms. 
There  is  one  trait  in  the  Irish  character,  well  known  to  all  the 
world ;  and  that  is,  they  are  generous  to  a  fault :  if  one  has  but 
two  potatoes,  he  will  share  them  with  a  hungry  traveller.  A 
broken-down  Englishman   came   into  the   neighborhood  where 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


107 


)f  the 

rs  and   \ 
m,  un- 
before 
I;  and 
le  ope- 

1,  com- 
jonvert 
ife,  en- 
ts  and 
e  wives 
e  most 
beard  a 
worker, 
ord  was 
I  which, 
loment. 


F    THE 

two  or 

where 

Idhood. 

they  ar- 

located 

,  where 

fences, 

1  farms. 

all  the 

has  but 

ler.     A 

where 


cney  were  located,  and  set  himself  up  as  one  of  the  codfish  aris- 
tocracy, taking  up  a  lot  100  acres  in  extent,  although  he  wan 
comparatively  poor.  It  is  the  custom  in  new  countries  for  neigh- 
bors to  assist  each  other,  and  for  this  purpose  many  persons  will 
assemble  on  a  farm,  and  participate  in  what  is  called  a  "  bee :"  viz., 
chopping  logs,  building  fences,  etc.  Under  this  system,  our 
aristocrat  got  more  than  half  of  his  farm  cleared  and  under  fence 
in  a  few  years,  though  he  was  very  seldom  an  assistant  at  the 
"  bees  "  got  up  for  the  benefit  of  others.  The  neighboring  farm- 
ers joined  in  the  purchase  of  a  threshing  machine ;  and,  as  it 
required  the  attention  of  several  persons  to  work  it,  it  was  agreed 
that  all  should  assist,  going  from  the  barn  of  one  farmer  to  that 
of  another,  until  the  threshing  was  entirely  completed.  This 
Englishman,  by  pleading  that  he  had  a  payment  to  make  on  his 
land,  and  needed  his  wheat  threshed  first,  in  order  that  he  might 
by  its  sale  procure  the  necessary  funds,  on  several  occasions  suc- 
ceeded in  having  his  wants  satisfied  before  those  of  any  of  his 
neighbors ;  when  he  would  manage  to  evade  assisting  those  who 
had  helped  him,  by  pleading  sickness,  a  sore  heel  or  shin,  or  some 
other  equally  trifiing  excuse.  All  this  niggardly  conduct  was, 
however,  overlooked  by  his  kind-hearted  Irish  neighbors,  whose 
charity  was  as  enduring  as  their  industry  was  untiring.  One  of 
the  Englishman's  horses  died  in  the  spring,  just  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  usual  busy  season  (most  probably  owing  to 
bad  food  or  an  insufficient  supply) ;  whereupon  one  of  the  Irish- 
men, who  had  a  spare  horse,  immediately  placed  it  at  his  dis- 
posal for  the  spring,  provided  he  would  get  the  beast  shod,  as  the 
Englishman  had  a  journey  of  forty  miles  to  perform,  which  he 
could  not  eflFect  with  an  unshod  animal.  The  latter  promised  to 
do  as  required,  and  even  thought  of  returning  thanks  to  the 
Irishman  for  his  kindness,  but  concluded  not  to  do  so,  as  it  would 
be  too  polite.  He  put  the  borrowed  horse  alongside  of  his  own, 
and  with  the  pair  finished  all  his  field-work ;  after  which  he  got 
the  beast  shod,  and  drove  him  forty  miles  and  back  with  a  load. 


108 


niPIllSONMENT   FOR   DEKT 


Having  then  no  urthor  use  for  the  animal,  he  got  up  early  the 
morning  following  his  return,  and  pulled  the  shoes  oflF  the  feet  of 
the  horse;  when,  leading  him  into  the  road,  by  shouting  and 
whirling  his  hat,  he  so  frightened  him  that  ho  ran  toward  his 
owner's  home. 


f;    "'■Ji'-',  i: 


!('i,     111 


'if, 


;m 


A" 


f     5i* 


, ,, •..■<-•■'•  ^      .V' 


-.  /v 


■  •  ■    '  1mi   .   »   t    -.   -  '.rj 


r  1  •  U  ■.  I  ' 


%    ^, 


■  > 


An  Englishmnn,  nfter  pulling  the  Slioes  off  the  feet  of  a  borrowed  Horse,  sends  him  book 

to  his  Owner. 

This  is  a  very  fair  specimen  of  the  general  character  of  the 
codfish  English  aristocracy  of  Canada,  who  will  not  hesitate  to 
stoop  to  any  dirty  action  by  which  they  can  realize  a  penny. 
Our  Englishman  wanted  the  shoes  for  his  remaining  horse,  or  for 
one  he  intended  to  purchase  with  the  profits  arising  from  the 
next  "  bee  "  held  on  his  farm  3  and  with  this  view  he  worked  the 
poor  beast  barefoot  the  entire  spring,  and  never  had  it  shod  until 
the  last  moment.  Such  a  fellow  as  this  should  be  treated  to  a 
prolonged  experience  of  that  instrument  of  torture  which  is  pe- 
culiarly English,  and  known  by  the  name  of  the      .  ^,  ;, 


IN    THE   0ANADA8. 


100 


■(.,    i:' 


"  STOCKS." 


*•'  it*  ■'-- 


The  practice  of  putting  men  and  women  in  the  stocks  foi 
petty  offences  has  been,  in  a  great  measure,  abandoned,  as  many 
of  the  law-makers  themselves  were  made  practically  acquainted 
with  its  odious  features,  during  the  periods  of  punishment  al- 
lotted them  for  drunkenness,  disorderly  conduct,  etc. 


oim:. 


Knglishman  in  tho  Stocks. 

A  smart  but  not  overwise  Englishman  went  to  town  one  day 
where  he  heard  a  crowd  of  gentlemen  discussing  the  pricus  of 
stocks,  and  speaking  about  investing  their  money  in  them.     On 
his  return  home,  he  met  another  Englishman,  named  "  Bill,"  a 
codfish  aristocrat,  whom  he  thus  addressed  :  -vf  ,  iM*  i.w; 

^'  Ha,  Bill !  had  you  ever  any  money  in  stocks  ?"      .:;i  ■'■   'n  ^f: 

"  No,"  replied  Bill ;  "  but  I  have  had  my  legs  in  them,  very 
often."     :,  .-,;*   --^  -^'-^.i^;     -r      .: iv;,  _:0_,ii  n'^ihlA::  -"/ii  a  -i 

Stocks  are  usually  set  up  in  some  public  place,  as  the  open 
space  in  front  of  a  county  court-house,  or  church,  or  in  some 
other  place  where  there  is  frequently  a  large  gathering  of  people, 
10 


■I 


110 


IMPRISONMENT   FOU  DEBT 


»' 
^ 


$ 


i 

m  '  1 

W  [ . 

II  ^ ' 

iHI  ^' 

■H 

so  as  to  make  the  exposure  of  the  culprit  as  public  as  possible. 
The  lower  plank  of  the  stocks  is  twelve  inches  high ;  and,  the 
culprit  being  seated  on  the  ground,  his  feet  are  laid  upon  this 
plank,  when  another  one,  containing  notches  to  fit  the  ankles,  is 
fastened  down  over  it.  Whoever  is  thus  punished,  man  or  wo- 
man, is  compelled  to  support  the  body  in  an  upright  position  by 
placing  the  hands  upon  the  ground  in  the  rear ;  thus  preventing 
the  use  of  those  important  members  in  driving  o£f  annoying  flies, 
or  inquisitive  dogs,  which  are  prompted  by  natural  instinct  to 
smell  every  stationary  object  they  pass. 

The  force  of  public  opinion,  and  the  advance  of  humanitarian 
principles,  have  influenced  the  Governmuuu  &o  abolish  the  use  of 
stocks ;  and  in  lieu  thereof,  men,  women,  and  children  are  locked 
up  in  jails  for  all  crimes,  among  which  is  included  that  of  debt; 
for  indebtedness  is  regarded  as  crime,  and  punished  with  greater 
severity  than  o£fences  against  the  laws  of  God  and  the  institu- 
tions of  civilized  society. 

Beverting  back  to  the  cases  tried  before  the  Division  Court, 
I  will  here  detail  a  few  more  of  them,  merely  to  show  the  falsity 
of  the  report,  so  industriously  disseminated  by  interested  par- 
ties, that  imprisonment  for  debt  has  been  abolished  in  Canada 
West. 

DIVISION   COURT,   CASE   NO.  1 1859. 

A  shoemaker,  forty-nine  years  of  age,  having  a  wife  and  seven 
children,  was  prosecuted  by  a  grocer,  to  whom  he  owed  $28*20. 
The  bill  of  costs  amounted  to  $12*86,  making  an  aggregate  of 
$4106;  for  the  non-payment  of  which  he  was  sentenced  to  an 
imprisonment  of  twenty  days,  although  he  had  been  unable  to 
labor  for  some  time  previous.  He  was  conveyed  from  his  home 
to  a  jail  eighteen  miles  distant.  The  sentence  of  the  court  was 
tempered  with  mercy,  because  it  was  not  thought  that  the  cul- 
prit could  survive  much  longer  than  was  necessary  for  the  exe- 
cution of  the  punishment  assigned  to  his  enormous  offence.    '-;> 


^^fp' 


IN   THE  0ANADA8. 


Ill 


DIVISION  COURT,  CASE  NO.  2. — 1859. 


(1  •".■a.'r 


iWi' 


n 


A  journeyman  cooper,  aged  fifty-five  years,  was  prosecuted  for 
a  grocery  bill  amounting  to  320,  which  was  increased  by  the  ad- 
dition of  costs,  $20-12,  to  the  sum  of  $40-12.  This  man  has  a 
wife  and  five  children,  was  dragged  eighteen  miles  to  the 
jail,  in  which  he  was  imprisoned,  and  has  been  twice  confined 
for  the  same  debt.  His  wife  recently  presented  him  with  an  ad- 
dition to  his  family,  and  at  the  time  of  his  last  seizure  he  had 
neither  fuel  nor  provisions  in  his  house,  while  his  wife  was  un- 
able to  rise  from  her  bed.  He  was  sentenced  to  forty  days'  im- 
prisonment, under  the  law  which  has  for  its  caption,  ''The  Act  to 
abolish  imprisonment  for  debt,''  etc.  tf 

4:h  ■■,- 
DIVISION   COURT,   CASE  NO.  3.  — 1859  '     ' 

The  individual  prosecuted  in  this  case  is  a  carpenter,  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  a  man  of  family,  having  a  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren. He  was  sued  on  an  accommodation  note  for  $40,  which 
sum  the  costs  increased  to  $65-32 ;  and,  if  my  information  is 
correct,  the  note  was  loaned  to  one  of  the  codfish  aristocracy. 
At  the  time  of  his  arrest,  he  was  six  miles  from  his  residence, 
consulting  a  physician,  and  was  hurried  away  to  a  jail  twenty-six 
miles  distant;  permission  to  go  home  and  apprise  his  family,  or 
to  procure  a  clean  shirt,  having  been  refused  him.  He  was  sen- 
tenced to  an  imprisonment  of  ten  days  for  failing  to  pay  the 
note,  although  he  had  not  done  a  day's  work  in  six  months.  An- 
other instance  of  the  heartlessness  of  all  connected  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  laws  in  Canada  West. 


■..    i.  1,   ^,v- 


1^'iOl? 


hM: 


NOVEL  MODE   OF  SEIZING  A  STOVE. 


A  poor  man  in  Canada  West,  being  in  debt,  and  unable  to  pay, 
a  lav:yer  advised  the  creditor  to  collect  it  by  law,  as  delay  mignt 
prove  dangerous.   Suit  was  commenced,  and  an  execution  issued. 


112 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR   UEBT 


t 


which  was  put  into  the  sheriff's  hands  for  collection  sonic  time 
during  the  month  of  February.  Knowing  that  the  man  was 
poor,  and  had  but  little  in  his  house,  the  sheriff  determined  to 
sell  all  his  goods,  stove  included,  so  as  to  make  sure  of  having 
sufficient  to  cover  the  execution — the  sale  of  household  furniture 
usually  yielding  only  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  its  value  ap- 
plicable to  the  payment  of  the  debt.  He  waited  until  11  o'clock 
at  night,  in  order  to  give  the  family  time  to  retire,  and  the  stove 
an  opportunity  to  cool ;  but,  on  entering  the  premises,  he  found 
the  family  all  astir,  and  the  stove  red-hot  —  the  poor  people  hav- 
ing been  apprised  of  the  intended  official  visit.  The  baffled  of- 
ficer was  so  enraged  at  his  disappointment  in  not  finding  the  stove 
in  proper  order  for  removal,  that  he  picked  up  a  pail  of  water, 
and  threw  the  entire  contents  of  it  on  the  stove,  which,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  was  broken  into  many  pieces.  When  the 
fragments  had  cooled,  he  threw  the  whole  of  them  outside  of  the 
house,  at  the  same  time  saying,  "  There,  God  damn  you,  sit  up 
and  keep  the  stove  hot,  will  you,  so  as  to  prevent  my  taking  it  to 
pay  your  debts  with  ?" 

A  sheriff  has  been  heard  to  say,  "  Give  me  a  quart  of  brandy, 
and  if  a  family  gives  me  any  insults,  I  will  strip  hell  out  of  the 
house ;  but  if  they  treat  me  decently,  I  will  leave  them  some- 
thing." According  to  this,  if  a  man  is  in  debt,  it  would  be  po- 
licy for  him  to  keep  in  the  house  a  quart  of  Otard ;  he  may  then 
have  the  straw  left  in  his  bed-ticks,  for  his  family  to  eep  on  j 
though  some  amendments  to  the  law  require  the  seizing  officer  to 
leave  to  each  family  a  stove  and  its  utensils,  a  bed  and  bedding, 
necessary  clothing  for  the  person,  and,  if  the  head  of  the  family 
is  a  mechanic,  tools  to  the  value  of  $60.  The  law,  however, 
does  not  allow  a  debtor  either  a  potato  or  a  codfish  to  cook  in  his 
stove,  or  a  stick  of  firewood  to  generate  heat  in  the  coldest  of 
weather;  but  if,  with  the  tools  left  him,  a  mechanic  earns  suffi- 
cient to  procure  a  cord  of  wood,  or  a  bushel  of  potatoes,  the  she- 
riff may  seize  both,  and  then  confine  the  poor  man  himself  in 


IN   TH£  OANADAS. 


113 


N^- 


^  The  Sheriff  throwing  water  on  a  Stove  which  he  \b  about  to  selie  for  Debt. 

jail  because  he  is  not  able  to  cancel  the  balance  of  the  debt.  A 
bedstead  is  not  allowed  a  debtor ;  neither  is  he  permitted  to  have 
knife  or  fork,  plate  or  spoon,  table  or  chair.  Canada  lawyers  tell 
those  who  know  not  the  contrary,  that  imprisonment  for  debt  has 
been  abolished,  and  that  a  sheriff  cannot  distress  a  family,  but 
must  leave  them  the  goods  necessary  for  housekeeping.  They 
tell  falsehoods.  The  sheriff  may  or  may  not  leave  any  property 
in  the  hands  of  the  debtor,  as  suits  his  own  inclination ;  but,  as 
he  receives  a  per  centage  on  all  he  sells,  it  is  not  likely  he  will 
leave  much.  These  men  sometimes  favor  the  codfish  aristocracy, 
but  the  poor  man,  never.  One  sheriff  told  me  that  when  he  had 
an  execution  on  a  stock  of  goods  in  store  he  could  make  money — 
and,  in  fact,  on  any  other  description  of  personal  property  —  by 
having  parties  present  to  buy  the  goods  for  him  at  nominal 
prices.  Thus,  it  will  be  seen,  the  oflficial  robs  the  creditor  as 
well  as  the  debtor;  and,  while  the  creditor  does  not  obtain  his 


10* 


H 


';':>  js   T»  in  w 


j  •  f .(  n  ni 


114 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


due,  the  debtor  is  not  in  any  way  relieved  of  his  obligation, 
though  deprived  of  his  goods.  Such  is  the  operation  of  the  laws 
for  the  collection  of  debts  in  Canada  West. 


HOW  AGRICULTURE  IS  ENCOURAGED  IN  CANADA. 


^ 


^;'/'';r^, 


A  Farmer  arrested,  and  bis  Ilorsua  seized  for  Debt.  ^ 

A  farmer,  owing  to  the  failure  of  his  crops  the  previous  sea- 
son, had  become  indebted  to  certain  parties,  one  of  whom  sued 
him,  and  obtained  a  judgment,  on  which  an  execution  was  issued 
and  put  into  the  sheriff's  hands  for  levy.  This  fact  becoming 
known,  another  creditor  immediately  swore  out  a  capias,  and  put 
it  also  into  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  who,  being  well  armed,  went 
into  the  field  where  the  farmer  was  ploughing  (the  best  evidence 
of  his  intention  to  remain  in  the  country),  and  first  seized  the 
horses  to  satisfy  the  execution,  after  which  he  arrested  the  farmer 
by  authority  of  the  capias,  and  marched  him  off  to  jail,  to  undergo 
purgation  by  means  of  a  six  months*  course  of  law ;  for  when 
lawyers  get  hold  of  a  case  of  this  kind,  they  pay  no  attention  to 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


115 


ligation, 
the  laws 


the  misery  and  distress  they  oause  in  a  family,  but  use  every  pos- 
sible exertion  to  prolong  the  imprisonment  of  a  man,  in  order 
thereby  to  increase  their  fees.  r* 


■t  "■*•?* 


L. 


ous  sea- 
Dm  sued 
IS  issued 
ecoming 
and  put 
ed,  went 
Qvidence 
ized  the 
e  farmer 
undergo 
Qr  when 
mtion  to 


>/  SWINDLING  OPERATION. 

Mr.  Campbell,  a  Scotchman,  wishing  to  sell  his  farm  and  leave 
the  country,  was  induced  to  mako  deeds  of  it  to  Richard  Marsh, 
conveying  also  his  wife's  right  of  dower,  in  consideration  of 
Marsh  paying  certain  debts  which  Campbell  owed,  and  giving  his 
notes  at  short  dates  for  the  balance.  The  deeds  were  executed 
in  Marsh's  store,  and  were  signed  by  Campbell  without  reading; 
he  having  been  previously  well  plied  with  liquor  by  Marsh. 
When  the  notes  fell  due,  Campbell  demanded  payment ;  but  what 
was  his  surprise  to  learn  that  they  were,  by  their  wording,  pay- 
able in  goods,  and  not  in  cash;  he,  through  ignorance  or  care- 
lessness, never  having  examined  them.  Campbell,  indignant  at 
the  trick  which  had  been  practised  upon  him,  refused  to  surren- 
der the  farm ;  but  Marsh  went  to  the  county-seat,  sued  out  a 
writ  of  ejectment,  and  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  sheri£f,  who 
very  soon  dispossessed  poor  Campbell.  The  costs  amounted  to 
$25,  and  Campbell  being  unable  to  pay  them,  the  sheri£f  seized 
his  span  of  horses  and  sold  them  for  the  amount  of  the  bill  of 
costs.  Thus  this  much  injured  man,  through  his  own  impru- 
dence, and  the  knavery  of  Marsh,  lost  a  fine  farm,  and  in  lieu 
thereof  got  a  valueless  stock  of  store  goods ;  beside  which,  the 
law  robbed  him  of  his  horses.  .  -r  .  ..  ^  v,.. 


OUT  OP  JAIL  AND  IN  JAIL. 


.*!'  i<  ■■■it 


In  the  summer  of  1856,  being  in  St.  Thomas,  Canada  West, 
a  young  lawyer  to  whom  I  was  introduced  solicited  me  to  put 
such  business  in  that  place  (that  being  the  capital  of  Elgin 
County)  as  I  might  have  to  transact  in  his  hands.   I  replied  that 


110 


IMPIUBONMBNT   FOR   DEHT 


,  ( 


i: 


I  '; 


V,     II 


I  would  boar  him  in  mind,  and  so  wo  parted.  After  being  con- 
fined in  jttil  Homo  sixteen  monthn,  I  wrote  to  him  to  oxuinino 
the  court  recordu  in  the  clerk's  office,  and  to  inform  me  whether 
a  certain  party  hud  entered  a  judgment  aguiiiMt  me;  rcqueNtiiig 
him  to  send  his  bill  at  the  same  time,  which  I  would  settle.  L 
gave  him  to  understand  how  T  was  situated,  and  paid  the  postage 
on  the  letter,  though  not  required  so  to  do  by  the  postage  law. 
The  young  lawyer,  who  had,  only  two  years  previously,  been 
very  anxious  to  attend  to  my  business,  now  promptly  replied, 
without  prepaying  his  letter,  that,  to  secure  his  services,  I  must 
first  send  him  one  pound  ($4). 

Another  lawyer,  in  the  same  county,  bought  goods  on  credit 
from  me  for  two  or  three  years,  always  selecting  the  best  goods, 
us  they  were  for  the  use  of  his  family,  and  ho  had  not  to  pay  the 
money  down.  About  four  months  after  I  was  imprisoned,  I  wrote 
him,  desiring  him  to  call  and  see  mo,  as  I  had  some  business  for 
him  to  transact.  A  polite  written  request  for  mo  first  to  send 
him  ten  pounds  ($40)  was  the  answer  I  received ;  to  which  I 
replied  that  I  would  pay  him  as  soon  as  ray  business  was  finished; 
and  that,  even  if  I  was  in  jail,  I  was  just  as  responsible  as  when 
I  was  at  liberty.  Ho  came,  however,  and  done  what  I  required ; 
but,  to  my  infinite  surprise,  he  then  presented  me  with  a  bill  for 
$100,  as  a  retaining  fee,  and  other  charges  in  like  proportion ; 
which  not  only  absorbed  my  entire  claim,  in  amount  $200,  but 
actually  brought  me  in  his  debt  $125,  including  the  ten  pounds. 
This  is  the  way  Canada  lawyers  deal  with  their  clients ;  and  any 
citizen  of  the  United  States  who  has  business  with  one  of  the 
tribe  may  make  up  his  mind  that  he  will  bo  thoroughly 
swindled. 

I  once  saw  a  prisoner  enclose  $10  in  a  letter  to  a  lawyer,  with 
a  request  that  ho  would  answer  a  question  propounded  therein. 
The  lawyer  referred  the  man  to  his  partner,  who  resided  near  the 
jail ;  but,  the  latter  being  unable  to  give  the  required  answer, 
the  querist  again  referred  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  first 


IN   THK   CANADA8. 


117 


lawyer,  who  had  pocketed  the  $10.  The  rascal,  however,  would 
not  reply,  bocauNo  the  letter  did  not  contain  another  fee,  not  with* 
fltandin^  ho  had  rendered  no  Norvioe  for  the  one  ho  had  reoeive<l. 
One  can  Hcarooly  imagine  a  more  sham  Ichs  robbery  than  thin| 
perpetrated,  as  it  was,  on  a  defonoeless  individual. 

FKMALE   PAUL  PAYS. 

I  have  a  word  of  advice  to  convey  to  young  ladies  who  form 
part  of  a  jailor's  household,  and  I  hope  they  will  accept  it  in  the 
right  spirit,  as  it  is  intended  for  their  benefit.  It  is  fur  from 
being  becoming  in  the  fair  sex  to  cluster  around  a  jailor,  or  a 
turnkey,  while  the  pockets  of  male  prisoners  are  searched,  and 
their  clothing  rummaged  and  ripped  open,  as  is  that  of  thieves 
and  burglars,  both  white  and  black,  in  order  to  display  their  na- 
k(tdnoss  to  the  best  advantage,  and  to  detect  the  presence  of  se- 
creted tools,  etc. 


AN  IMPORTUNATE  LADY  OOLLEOTOR  Or  DEBTS. 

As,  while  I  was  in  prison,  I  never  slept  soundly  at  night,  I 
was  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  nap  every  day  between  one  and  two 
o'clock.  A  miss  who  had  seen  about  twenty  summers  came  to 
the  jail  one  day  to  visit  the  family,  and  very  soon  asked  where 
the  Yankee's  room  was,  alleging  that  I  owed  her  father  82,  which 
hIic  wished  to  procure  from  me.  My  apartment  was  pointed 
out  to  her,  but  at  the  same  time  she  was  told  that  it  was  more 
than  probable  I  was  then  asleep.  The  young  lady,  however, 
being  determined  to  dun  me,  came  to  the  iron  cross-barred  door, 
which  separated  the  jail  from  the  dwelling,  and,  as  my  room  was 
so  situated  that  she  could  not  look  into  it  from  that  point,  she 
grasped  the  bars  with  both  hands,  and,  rattling  the  door  with 
great  violence,  hallooed  for  me  until  I  awoke,  when  I  ran  around 
to  where  she  was  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  commotion.    She  was 


118 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


'( 


i 


i; 


^  M  u 


•1  II 
f.  h 


rather  pretty,  stout-built,  a  fine  figure,  and  handsomely  dressed, 
and  at  once,  without  the  slightest  hesitation,  she  informed  me 
that  her  father  desired  her  to  ask  me  for  the  sixteen  shillings  I 
owed  him.  I  asked  who  her  father  was,  when  she  gave  me  his 
name,  and  again  told  me  that  she  wanted  the  money.  I  replied 
that  I  had  no  recollection  of  indebtedness  to  her  father,  though 
such  might  be  the  case ;  but  that  I  was  very  short  of  funds, 
having  barely  sufficient  to  procure  a  meagre  subsistence;  and 
that  I  thought  a  prison  the  wrong  place  to  dun  a  man  for  money. 
She  persisted  in  her  demand,  however,  notwithstanding  I  told 
her  I  could  not  pay ;  and  I  must  say  she  rather  annoyed  me  by 
her  pertinacity.  I  formed  the  opinion  that  she  had  been  pro- 
mised this  sum  if  she  could  collect  it,  which  she  wished  to,  ex- 
pend in  the  purchase  of  a  bonnet ;  and  sometime  since  I  sent  it 
to  her,  interest  added.  Any  young  gentleman  about  to  open  a 
retail  store,  and  needing  a  partner  who  can  attend  to  the  collec- 
tions, may  find  in  this  damsel  a  valuable  assistant;  for,  with  so 
thoroughbred  a  collector  at  his  elbow,  he  need  not  be  fearful 
about  giving  credit.  ^ 

A  CASE  IN   WHICH  TttE  CANADIAN  LAWS    PROVED  AN  INCEN- 
TIVE  TO   THE   COMMISSION   OF   CRIME. 

Moses  Stewart,  a  poor  negro,  who  earned  a  subsistence  for  his 
family  by  boating  lumber  on  Otter  Creek  during  the  summer 
season,  found,  by  the  latter  part  of  February,  1858,  that,  the 
product  of  his  summer's  labor  being  entirely  exhausted,  his  wife 
and  four  children  were  in  danger  of  starvation ;  as  there  are  no 
poor-houses  in  Canada  for  tne  protection  of  honest  poverty  from 
cold  and  hunger  during  the  prevalence  of  severe  winter  weather. 
In  this  state  of  afiairs,  Moses,  who  was  always  a  hard-working, 
honest  man,  and  highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  so  far 
lost  sight  of  correct  principles,  under  the  pressure  of  his  wife 
and  children's  sufibrings  for  food,  that  he  came  to  tho  determina- 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


1  •:« 


119 


tion  of  taking  a  sheep  from  one  of  his  wealthy  neighbors,  in 
order  to  sustain  his  sable  family  until  some  lucky  turn  in  For- 
tune's wheel  should  enable  him  to  provide  for  them  in  an  honor- 
able manner.  He  would  have  begged,  but  he  knew  that  it  was 
useless,  as  the  county  was  already  overrun  with  such,  and  he 
would  most  probably  have  been  kicked  out  of  the  houses  at 
which  he  applied  for  relief,  because  he  was  a  colored  man.  One 
dark  night,  Moses  left  his  cabin,  and,  entering  the  sheepfold  of 
a  rich  neighbor,  selected  a  sheep,  which  he  bled  to  death,  and 
then  carried  home,  whero  he  skinned  it,  c  refully  stowed  away 


.H, 


Moses  Stewart  coming  home  with  the  stolen  Sheep. 


the  meat  and  the  hide,  and  then  hid  the  shanks  under  the  floor 
of  his  cabin.  The  following  day,  Moses  thought  it  would  be 
some  reparation  if  he  restored  the  hide  and  fleece,  which  he  did 
that  night,  and  thereby  led  to  his  own  detection.  He  was  at 
once  arrested  by  the  rich  farmer,  and  cast  into  prison,  where  he 
lay  until  the  following  April ;  when  he  was  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  two  years  in  the  Kingston  peni- 


120 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR  DEBT 


Br?  '.  I 


m 


i  i 


Is 


tentiary.  This  is  Canadian  justice.  No  houses  arc  erected  for 
the  shelter  of  the  poor  during  the  winter  months,  but  there  are 
plenty  of  prisons  for  their  punishment;  not  one  cent  is  expended 
in  the  prevention  of  crime,  but  immense  sums  are  lavished  on 
the  erection  of  jails,  in  which  people  are  punished  for  its  com- 
mission. There  are  so  many  beggars  in  Canada,  that  it  is  much 
easier  to  break  stone  for  a  living,  provided  such  work  can  be 
procured,  than  to  obtain  a  livelihood  by  soliciting  alms.  A  beg- 
gar is  kicked  and  pounded  with  more  force  than  he  can  pound 
stone.  Formerly,  beggars  were  licensed,  and  the  letters  "P. B" 
(poor  beggar)  put  on  their  backs,  when  no  one  dare  kick  them 
out. 

SHAMEFUL   CONSPIRACY  TO   DEPRIVE  A  MAN   OP   HIS  WIFE   ANJl 

PROPERTY. 

A  young  colored  man,  whose  name  is,  I  think,  Johnson,  bought 
a  farm  some  six  or  eight  miles  out  of  Chatham,  Canada  West, 
and  commenced  business  as  a  farmer.  He  built  a  house,  barn, 
fences,  etc.,  cleared  some  land,  and  collected  quite  a  snug  stock 
of  cattle,  sheep,  etc.  In  his  vicinity  lived  a  white  lady,  then  a 
widow,  whose  husband  had  been  a  mulatto,  and  the  offspring  of 
their  union  was  a  daughter,  nearly  white,  a  perfect  beauty,  and, 
at  the  period  I  am  speaking  of,  about  eighteen  years  of  age. 
Johnson's  industry,  thrift,  and  comfortable  position  in  life,  toge- 
ther with  his  attentions  to  the  young  lady,  so  wrought  upon  the 
feelings  of  the  mother  and  daughter,  that  his  suit  was  accepted ; 
he  married  the  latter,  and  in  three  or  four  years  two  children 
were  added  to  the  family  circle.  About  this  time  it  was  noticed  that 
the  number  of  white  male  visitors  at  Johnson's  house  was  largely 
on  the  increase,  and  that  two  of  the  local  magistrates  were  fre- 
quently seen  there.  The  sequel  proved  that  the  new  associations 
supplanted  the  old  love  in  the  breast  of  the  wife,  and  that  both 
herself  and  her  mother  were  anxious  to  get  rid  of  Johnson,  as 


) 


erected  for 
;  there  arc 
I  expended 
avished  on 
or  its  corn- 
it  is  much 
>rk  can  be 
s.  A  beg- 
can  pound 
3rs"P.B" 
kick  them 


WIFE  ANJi 

son, bought 
nada  West, 
louse,  barn, 
snug  stock 
ady,  then  a 
offspring  of 
)eauty,  and, 
lars  of  age. 
n  life,  toge- 
it  upon  the 
ls  accepted ; 
vo  children 
noticed  that 

was  largely 
es  were  fre- 

associations 
d  that  both 
Johnson,  as 


IN   THE  CANADAS. 


121 


then  they  would  have  no  one  to  control  them  in  their  evil  pro- 
pensities. Most  probably  by  the  advice  of  the  magistrates,  the 
old  lady  feigned  illness  for  some  time,  and  at  length  intimated 
that  some  lamb's-tail  soup  or  broth  would,  she  did  not  doubt, 
greatly  strengthen  her,  and  lead  to  her  recovery.  Johnson  pro- 
posed to  kill  a  sheep,  of  which  he  had  many ;  his  wife  and  mo- 
ther, however,  both  told  him  these  were  too  lean ;  but  that  a 
neighbor  had  a  few  of  the  right  kind,  one  of  which  he  could 
readily  appropriate  without  the  knowledge  of  the  owner,  as  he 
had  no  money  to  purchase  one.  Johnson  loved  his  wife  and  mo- 
ther-in-law so  much,  they  being  both  white,  and  very  pretty,  that 
he  would,  if  necessary,  have  laid  down  his  life  for  their  comfort ; 
so,  without  further  parley,  he  one  night  did  as  he  was  required, 
and  wended  his  way  homeward  with  a  lamb  on  his  back  j  but, 
when  near  his  own  fence,  two  white  men  who  had  been  frequent 


Johnson  coming  home  ^ith  the  Lamb  on  his  Back. 


^^3  - 


visitors  at  his  house,  sprang  out  from  their  place  of  concealment, 
and  arrested  him,  when  he  at  once  confessed  the  theft.     After 
lying  in  jail  for  some  time,  he  was  finally  tried,  convicted,  and 
11 


122 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  in  the  Kingston  peniten- 
tiary. The  judge  who  presided  said  ho  clearly  saw  that  the  wholo 
matter  had  been  pre-arranged,  with  the  view  of  depriving  the 
poor  fellow  of  his  home  and  family ;  and,  inasmuch  as  he  had 
lain  a  considerable  time  in  prison,  ho  proposed  to  discharge  him 
at  once.  This,  however,  the  associate  justices  would  not  agree 
to;  and  they  told  the  judge  that,  as  stealing  a  sheep  was  a  peni- 
tentiary offence,  Johnson  must  bo  dealt  with  as  the  law  pre- 
scribed. As  the  case  was  tried  before  the  County  Court,  in  which 
two  or  three  of  the  local  magistrates  act  as  associate  justices,  the 
presiding  judge  was  compelled  to  acquiesce,  much  against  his 
will.  Two  of  the  associate  judges  in  the  trial  of  Johnson  were 
constant  visitors  at  his  house,  and  thus  assisted  in  the  consum- 
mation of  the  nefarious  plot  which,  there  is  not  a  doubt,  they 
were  instrumental  in  originating.  There  is  abundance  of  law, 
but  little  justice,  to  be  obtained  in  Canada  West. 


» 


HJ  ' 


JUDICIAL  INJUSTICE. 

The  colored  people  of  Canada  are  very  much  oppressed  by 
many  of  their  white  neighbors,  who  prefer  against  them  various 
charges,  in  order  to  drive  them  out  of  the  country.  In  this  way, 
two  colored  men  were  arraigned  before  a  court,  and  charged  with 
stealing,  which  they  denied.  There  being  no  very  positive  proof 
against  them,  they  were  advised  to  confess  their  guilt,  and  throw 
themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the  court;  which  one  of  them  did, 
while  the  other  persisted  in  asserting  his  innocence.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  neither  of  them  was  guilty ;  but  never- 
theless, they  were  convicted  on  insufficient  evidence,  and  the 
judge  sentenced  the  one  who  plead  guilty  to  an  imprisonment 
of  two  years,  while  to  the  other  he  assigned  four  years  j  thus, 
practically  rewarding  the  man  who  told  a  falsehood. 


f- 


IN   THE  0ANADA8. 


123 


.iK. 


nfion  were 


EFFECT  OF  CANADIAN   WHISKEY  ON   A  CANADIAN  JUDGE. 

Before  the  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  it  is  the 
usual  practice,  in  at  least  one  of  the  counties  in  Canada,  for  the 
judge  and  lawyers  to  meet  together  at  one  of  the  hotels,  and 
there  discuss,  not  only  the  cases  on  the  trial  list,  but  also  a  goodly 
supply  of  fine  old  Otard,  champagne,  whiskey,  coffee,  crackers 
and  cheese,  etc.  Meeting,  on  one  of  these  occasions,  at  the 
Royal  Exchange  (a  very  popular  name  in  Canada,  where  every- 
thing, from  a  palace  to  a  pig-sty,  is  dubbed  "  Royal "),  the  imbibi- 
tion of  material  spirits  raised  their  mental  spirits  to  such  a 
height,  that,  invading  the  small  cavity  in  the  cranium  where 
each  one  usually  kept  his  meagre  allotment  ;f  brains,  the  latter 
were  speedily  displaced,  and  folly  reigned  triumphant.  In  fact, 
they  were  all  most  gloriously  drunk ;  and,  among  other  fantastic 
tricks  played  oflF  by  these  legal  mountebanks,  they  put  into  the 
judge's  pocket  half  a  dozen  silver  spoons,  which  he  carried  with 
him  when  he  went  to  his  residence  in  the  village,  between  1  and 
2  o'clock  A.  M.  Sobered  by  his  night's  sleep,  the  judge  arose 
the  following  morning,  shaved,  washed,  breakfasted,  and,  assum- 
ing the  proper  judicial  frown,  was  about  to  don  his  coat  prepara- 
tory to  setting  forth,  when,  hearing  a  jingling  sound  in  one  of 
the  pockets,  a  search  revealed  to  his  astonished  vision  the  land- 
lord's silver  spoons.  Having  no  knowledge  of  the  manner  in 
which  they  got  there,  he  asked  his  wife  if  he  was  much  in  liquor 
when  he  came  home  the  previous  night ;  to  which  she  answered 
that  he  was  decidedly  drunk.  Thinking  that  he  had  picked  up 
the  spoons  while  intoxicated,  he  wended  his  way  back  to  the 
hotel,  where  they  had  already  been  missed,  and,  returning  them 
to  the  owner,  he  asked  pardon  for  his  trespass,  and  was  freely 
forgiven.  Proceeding  thence  to  the  court-house,  he  took  his 
seat  upon  the  bench,  and,  as  none  of  the  civil  cases  on  the  calen- 
dar were  ready  for  trial,  his  lordship  ordered  an  Irishman  to  be 


II   i 


124 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


armigncd  who  had  stolen  a  liorso,  when  tho  following  colloquy 
took  pinco  between  tho  judgo  and  tho  prisoner : 

Judge.  Well)  sir ;  it  appears  you  are  charged  with  stealing  a 
horse. 

J*a(.  Yes,  my  lord. 

Jud(/«\  How  came  you  to  do  so  ?  Don't  you  know  it  is  a 
80 von  years'  penitentiary  offence  ? 

Pat.  Yes,  my  lord ;  but,  pleaso  your  lordship,  I  was  drunk. 

Jmhje.  Ah  I  drunk.  Where  did  you  get  the  liquor  that  mado 
you  drunk'/  ,i;.^ 

Pat.  At  tho  Royal  Exchange,  sir. 

Judge.  Indeed  I  Well,  sir,  I  will  discharge  you  at  once ;  for 
I  know,  of  a  truth,  that  man's  liquor  will  make  any  one  steal. 

Poor  Pat  humbly  thanked  his  lordship,  covered  his  crown 
with  a  something  which  he  called  a  hat,  and  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing.  ;  :       ;;  .*.v\\ 


A  NEGRO,  SEVENTY  YEARS  OP  AGE,  ROBBED  OP  HIS  PROPERTY. 

This  poor  fellow  resided  upon  some  land  west  of  the  village 
of  Chatham,  which  he  had  taken  possession  of  twenty-five  years 
before,  and,  by  great  labor,  cleared,  fenced,  stocked,  and  supplied 
with  the  necessary  buildings.  In  the  progress  of  time  the  land 
had  become  valuable,  when  suddenly  General  Williamson,  as  the 
negro  was  called,  was  notified  that  tho  farm  upon  which  he  had 
expended  so  much  labor  was  the  property  of  another.  The 
claimant,  finding  that  Williamson  had  been  in  possession  over 
twenty  years,  and  therefore  had  a  good  title,  went  to  Chatham, 
and  employed  a  lawyer  to  dispossess  the  General.  This  worthy 
offered  to  give  the  old  man  a  farm  near  Chatham  in  exchange 
for  the  one  he  then  held ;  to  which  the  latter  agreed,  as  the  ma- 
jority of  the  colored  people  in  the  county  resided  there,  beside 
which,  he  would  be  near  his  church.  Instead  of  a  deed,  how- 
ever, the  lawyer  only  gave  him  a  lease  of  tho  new  farm,  which 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


126 


called  for  tlio  annual  payment  of  a  cortuiri  sum  as  ront;  and  tho 
poor  old  croaturo,  not  knowing  any  difforonco,  gavo  up  his  old 
homo  and  moved  to  his  now  location ;  where,  much  to  his  aston- 
ishment, when  tho  ycmr  rolled  around,  a  demand  was  made  upon 
him  for  rent,  which  he  refused  to  pay.  Proceedings  wore  imme- 
diately commenced  against  him,  his  crops,  cattle,  etc.,  seized  and 
sold  for  rent,  and,  in  a  short  time,  ho  was  stripped  of  ^3000 — tho 
amount  ho  was  worth  when  he  moved  to  tho  vicinity  of  Chatham. 
Several  times  did  ho  attempt  to  take  possession  of  the  farm  which 
ho  formerly  owned  j  but  ho  was  invariably  prosecuted  for  tres- 
pass, and  driven  oif;  and,  at  last,  being  unable  to  pay  a  fine  of 
$15  for  ono  of  those  trespasses,  ho  was,  in  default  of  payment, 
sentenced  to  three  months'  imprisonment  in  Chatham  jail.  Di- 
recting his  friends  to  sell  his  suit  of  Sunday  clothes  in  order  to 
pay  tho  fine,  tho  coat,  which  had  east  him  820,  brought  but  $7, 
while  his  pants  were  sold  for  38,  and  his  vest  for  $2.  Not  being 
ablo  to  raise  the  required  sum,  ho  was  compelled  to  serve  out  his 
term,  lost  his  Sui.day  clothes,  and  some  extra  expenses  absorbed 
ho  $12  received  therefor;  after  which  ho  was  called,  as  are 
many  others  who  are  robbed  in  a  similar  way,  "a  poor  old  nigger." 


^hi-'f'- 


■■*■■"":>»*•> 


HOW  THE   NEGROES  ARE  TREATED  IN  OHATHAM. 

For  legalized  robbery,  this  town  exceeds  any  other  in  Canada 
West  J  and  the  people  do  all  in  their  power  to  worry  the  colored 
population  out,  and  get  rid  of  them,  as  they  are  opposed  to  hav- 
ing them  in  tho  place.  There  are  4000  whites  and  2000  blacks 
in  Chatham ;  and  I  really  think  there  are  far  more  honesty  and 
honor  among  the  latter  than  can  be  claimed  for  tho  former.  If 
a  poor  negro  is  seen  in  liquor,  he  is  at.  once  thrown  into  prison ; 
where,  if  there  is  any  disagreeable  work  to  be  done,  such  as 
cleaning  out  tho  sewers,  etc.,  he  is  compelled  to  do  it ;  and  I 
have  been  informed  that,  when  such  matters  require  attention, 
and  there  is  not  one  negro  in  the  prison,  a  constable  or  some 
11* 


126 


IMPRISONMENT  FOB  DEBT 


•!1 

1;: 


other  rasoal  is  employed  to  intoxicate  a  colored  person,  so  that 
ho  may  be  brought  into  the  jail,  and  made  use  of  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  dirty  job.  White  men  are  never  so  treated; 
although,  during  the  past  twenty  years,  th|  statistics  of  deaths 
in  Chatham  show  that  no  less  than  sixteen  landlords  of  "  lloyal  '* 
and  other  hotels  have  died  from  excessive  indulgence  in  spiritu- 
ous  liquors.  From  this  data,  it  may  readily  be  inferred  that  tho 
number  of  drunken  whites  is  by  no  means  small,  notwithstand- 
ing their  names  rarely  appear  on  the  prison  docket  for  this  o£fenco. 


FEMALE  INEBRIETY  IN   CANADA. 


.^.■■V(.' 


In  Canada,  it  is  not  an  unusual  occurrence  for  a  pair  of  la- 
dies to  walk  into  the  sitting-room  of  a  hotel  and  order  a  couple 
of  glasses  of  grog,  which  they  will  sit  and  sip,  while  discussing 
some  damsel's  love-sick  twaddle,  or  the  infirmities  of  an  old  gray 
goose.  I  have  seen,  at  a  hotel,  a  lady  with  her  child,  six  or 
eight  years  of  age,  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  a  glass  of  brandy 
and  water,  of  which  both  would  partake  j  and  frequently  the 
child  demanded  more  before  the  mother  handed  it  the  tumbler. 
This  was  considered  a  sign  of  smartness  in  the  child,  and  always 
caused  a  laugh  among  the  other  parties  seated  around  the  table. 
On  the  roadside,  half  a  mile  from  a  Canadian  village,  I  saw  an 
old  lady,  about  fifty  years  of  age,  lying  on  the  ground  in  a  state 
of  intoxication.  Occasionally  she  would  make  an  e£fort  to  get 
up,  but  unsuccessfully  j  eacl^  attempt  only  resulting  in  farther 
damage  to  a  bonnet  already  greatly  dilapidated.  It  was  a  sight 
shocking  to  the  feelings  of  an  American,  though  the  natives 
think  it  a  matter  of  no  moment.  Looking  back  toward  the  vil- 
lage, I  could  see  neither  church  nor  steeple  j  whereupon  my  ima- 
gination pictured  to  me  —  what  is  by  no  means  uncommon  —  a 
drunken  parson,  and  a  people  who  know  of  no  moral  restraint 
whatever.  -,  ;*  £t;a^ 


frmU'-i  vt  -Mpy^jihs  ^:  /a.^rvh':    -jllf    u'l 


J 1, 


IN  THE  0ANADA8. 


127 


30  that 
le  per- 
reated ; 
deaths 
Lloyal" 
spiritu- 
hat  the 
hstand- 
o£fenco. 


»'»."(,■ 


I,,... 


PERSECUTION  OF  A   METUODIS'^   MINISTER. 


ir  of  la- 
0,  couple 
scussing 
old  gray 
,  six  or 
f  brandy 
ntly  the 
tumbler, 
d  always 
he  table. 
I  saw  an 
in  a  state 
rt  to  get 
1  further 
,s  a  sight 
e  natives 
d  the  vil- 
i  my  ima- 
imon  —  a 
restraint 


A  Methodist  minbter  was  once  confined  on  the  jail  limits  for 
twenty-two  years,  and  was  eventually  discharged  by  the  Almighty, 
who  sent  death  to  his  relief.  He  had  endorsed  for  friends  to  the 
amount  of  $14,000,  and  his  creditors  so  managed  matters  that 
he  could  not  make  an  assignment,  or  in  any  other  way  extricate 
himself  than  by  payment  of  the  full  amount  in  cash,  interest 
added.  The  Methodist  Oonferenco  once  offered  to  pay  the 
$14,000,  without  interest ;  but  the  creditors  would  not  accept  the 
proposal,  and  it  was  never  again  repeated.  In  1858,  there  was 
a  man  still  confined  on  the  jail  limits  who  had  passed  sixteen 
years  of  his  life  in  a  state  "f  bondage.  ' '  r 


CHANCERY  COSTS. 


'  f.i': 


Imprisonment  for  life,  or  until  paid,  is  the  usual  penalty 
awarded  for  non-payment  of  the  costs  of  suit  in  courts  of  chan- 
cery jurisdiction —  the  neglect  being  construed  into  a  contempt 
of  court.  In  England,  very  poor  persons  have  languished  in 
jail  for  twenty-eight  years,  with  an  allowance  of  but  2$  Qd  per 
week  for  their  support;  and  in  many  instances,  parties  thus  im- 
prisoned have  died  before  the  expiration  of  their  term.  In  Ca- 
nada West,  a  young  man  with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  neglect- 
ing to  pay  the  costs  of  a  suit  in  chancery,  was  imprisoned  for 
four  mouths ;  his  lawyers,  meanwhile,  telling  him  that  he  could 
swear  himself  out,  as  he  was  not  a  man  of  property.  Interroga- 
tories were  propounded  and  answered  by  co^-respoudence  over  a 
route  200  miles  long,  and  the  matter  thus  delayed  by  the  lawyers, 
in  order  to  increase  their  costs,  as  they  knew  the  prisoner  had 
some  friends  who  would  pay  to  get  him  clear.  It  was  finally 
ascertained  that  the-prisoner's  counsel,  "  Walter  M'Crea,"  had 
been  practising  a  game  of  deception  for  four  monthS;  and  had 


,  i  •» 


L'i?/ 


128 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEIIT 


1' 


i 


'  i 


novor  evon  mado  applioation  for  his  disolmrgo.  Tho  cnRo  was 
taken  out  of  his  hands,  and  tho  young  man  soon  reguinud  his 
liberty. 

BASE  DECEPTION   PRACTISED  BY  LAWYERS. 

A  coso  whioh  oamo  under  my  oognizanoo,  was  that  of  a  man 
who  had  been  in  prison  about  five  months,  when  ho  was  served 
with  a  writ  of  capias,  and  again  arrested  (theoretically).  His 
trial  was  set  for  the  month  of  November  —  two  months  and  a 
half  after  the  service  of  tho  writ ;  but,  as  tho  man  wished  to 
regain  his  liberty  as  speedily  as  possible,  he  sent  for  his  attorney, 
M'Lean,  of  Chatham,  and  signed  a  cognovity  acknowledging  the 
debt,  preparatory  to  making  an  assignment,  whioh  would  havo 
secured  his  liberation.  The  lawyer,  however,  instead  of  deliver- 
ing the  cognovit  to  his  client's  creditors,  kept  it  in  his  pocket, 
and  entered  an  appearance  against  tho  counsel  of  tho  creditors, 
80  as  to  keep  his  own  client  in  custody  until  the  court  sat,  and 
thus  increase  his  own  fees.  At  tho  same  time,  he  was  continu- 
ally telling  the  poor  man's  wife  that  ho  was  doing  all  he  could 
for  her  husband's  release,  and  sympathizing  with  her  in  condem- 
nation of  tho  brutality  of  the  jailors,  the  cruelty  of  the  laws,  and 
the  obduracy  of  creditors.  This  same  M'Lean,  by  a  course  of 
deception,  camo  very  near  persuading  a  widow,  with  six  or  eight 
children  to  support,  to  sign  away  her  right  of  dower  j  but  the 
advice  of  others  who  were  in  the  jail  with  her  caused  her  to  see 
matters  in  a  different  light ;  and,  declining  to  do  as  she  was  re- 
quired by  the  crafty  lawyer,  she  has  still  a  house  over  her  head. 


.,  .'V?''f 


MEDICAL  INHUMANITY. 


A  good,  industrious  woman,  who  had  around  her  a  large  family 
of  children,  was  unfortunately  cursed  with  a  drunken  husband, 
who  at  length  was  attacked  with  delirium  tremens^  Tho  wife, 
alarmed;  sent  for  a  doctor,  who  resided  eight  miles  distant.    The 


IN   TIIK  CANADAS. 


120 


disoiple  of  Galon  oamo,  and  seeing  at  a  glanoo  what  the  disoaflo 
was,  directed  the  patient  to  be  kept  quiet,  and  to  bo  deprived  of 
liquor;  when,  re-mounting  his  horse,  ho  rodo  homeward.  In  a 
few  days,  he  sent  in  a  bill  of  810  for  servioos  rendered;  which 
not  being  paid,  ho  entered  suit  against  the  husband,  and  this  in- 
creased the  burthen  for  the  poor  man.  The  latter  owned  threo 
oows;  two  of  which  having  been  sold  without  satisfying  the  ex- 
ecution, tho  bailiflf  sold  the  remaining  and  only  oow  the  poor 
people  possessed.  This  ono  was,  however,  purchased  by  somo 
of  the  spootators,  and  returned  to  tho  original  owners ;  it  being 
their  only  moans  of  support.  Tho  doctor  then  rodo  homo  with 
a  satisfied  air. 


THE    HON.  M'KEL  SB    PROPOSES    BELLINQ    THE    OUATHAM 

NEGROES. 

During  the  first  canvass  of  the  Hon.  M' Keller  for  election  as 
representative  of  Kent  County  in  Parliament,  he  proposed  to  get 
rid  of  the  colored  population  of  Canada  West  in  a  very  novel 
manner.  Public  opinion  throughout  her  Majesty's  provinces 
was,  at  that  time,  very  much  opposed  to  tho  influx  of  runaway 
slaves  from  the  Southern  States  of  tho  Union ;  and  the  people 
of  Kent  County  were  particularly  antagonistic  to  the  further  set- 
tlement of  negroes  in  that  locality,  inasmuch  as  they  had  already 
more  than  they  thought  it  beneficial  to  the  interests  of  the  county 
to  have  resident  within  its  boundaries.  The  Honorable  aspirunt 
said  to  his  future  constituents  that  tho  Government  officials  had 
plundered  the  treasury  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  necessary 
the  imposition  of  additional  taxes,  to  meet  incidental  expenses 
and  pay  off  the  national  debt;  and  that,  as  the  people  were  al- 
ready groaning  under  an  excessive  burden,  he  thought  it  advisa- 
ble to  sell  all  the  negroes  in  the  county  into  bondage,  as  a  mea- 
sure of  relief  to  the  treasury  and  the  pockets  of  the  tax-payers. 
Ho  further  said  that,  as  he  was  an  old  resident  of  Chatham,  had 


V     t  L 


ii 


i 


.■ 


li^ 


180 


IMPRISONMENT   FOR  DEBT 


run  a  saw-mill  there  for  many  years,  and  had  occupied  an  honor- 
able place  in  the  town  council,  etc.,  he  had  become  a  very  influ- 
ential person  —  in  fact,  so  much  so,  that,  in  case  of  a  failure  to 
cfifect  this  object  in  the  Provincial  Parliament,  he  would  arrange 
the  matter  with  her  Majesty,  notwithstanding  the  possibly  ad- 
verso  decision  of  the  legislative  body.  In  order  to  prove  to  the 
multitude  that  it  was  perfectly  right  to  sell  negroes,  he  quoted  a 


•'.!('  <    .  ,1    :;,■'■:'.»   ;. ;; 


a;.;.' 


i      r1 


Honorable  M'Keller  selling  the  Chatham  Negroes,  but  her  Mtjesty  interferes,  and  stops 

his  operations. 

passage  from  the  Bible,  which  I  infer  he  discovered,  as  he  did 
the  stories  about  Jonah  and  the  net,  etc.,  which  he  embodied  in 
his  speeches  delivered  before  the  Lower  House,  by  an  indefati- 
gable use  of  the  midnight  lamp,  and  great  wear  and  tear  of  his 
valuable  brains.  The  quotation  was  taken  from  Genesis,  25th 
chapter  and  9th  verse,  and  reads  in  this  wise :  "And  he  said. 
Cursed  be  Canaan,  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his 
brethren."  The  good  people  were  vastly  astonished  at  the  re- 
search of  the  learned  oflSce-hunter,  which  had  succeeded  in  un- 
earthing this  unanswerable  sentence   from  among  the  hidden 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


181 


treasures  of  biblical  literature,  but  one  old  gentleman  arose  and 
bogged  permission  to  make  a  few  remarks.  This  being  granted, 
he  commonccd  by  saying  that,  in  his  opinion,  if  the  prohibition 
against  catching  fish  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes  on  the  northern 
border  of  Canada  West  were  repealed,  and  the  people  allowed 
full  liberty  to  reap  the  bountiful  harvest  there  prepared  for  theiu 
by  a  beneficent  Providence,  the  national  indebtedness  would  bo 
speedily  cancelled.  With  respect  to  the  negroes,  however,  he 
thought  they  might  make  themselves  perfectly  easy  on  that  score, 
as  they  would,  judging  from  the  rapidity  with  which  the  black 
color  was  being  changed  to  a  pretty  yellow,  and  thence  to  a 
dusky  white,  very  soon  disappear  in  a  natural  way,  without  the 
people  committing  the  sin  of  trafficking  in  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  fellow-creatures,  whom,  for  aught  he  knew  to  the  contrary, 
might  have  in  their  veins  a  very  large  admixture  of  white  pa- 
trician as  well  as  plebeian  blood.  This  very  sensible  and  irrefu- 
table speech  settled  the  matter,  and  nothing  more  was  said  about 
selling  the  negroes. 

The  honorable  gentleman  then  changed  his  tactics,  and  be- 
came an  advocate  of  the  aboli^'on  of  imprisonment  for  debt;  but, 
for  fear  my  readers  may  be  mistaken  in  the  individual,  I  will 
state  that  he  is  the  same  man  who  swore  that  I  was  about  to  run 
away  from  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  defrauding  my  creditors 
"generally,"  and  himself  ''in  particular,"  although  I  was  then, 
and  had  been  for  two  months  previously,  securely  lo  >ked  up  in 
jail.  _ 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  GENERAL  CHARACTER  OP  THE  NEGROES  IN 

CHATHAM,  CANADA  WEST. 

These  people,  by  the  laws  of  Great  Britain,  are  free  as  soon 
as  they  step  on  British  soil.  They  are  very  industrious,  and,  in 
Chatham,  publish  and  support  a  very  handsome  abolition  news- 
paper, own  two  or  three  churches,  have  good  schools  for  the  edu- 


'f 


132 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


cation  of  their  children^  and  also  very  efficient  Sunday-schoola. 
They  have  among  them  goldsmiths,  gunsmiths,  blacksmiths,  ma- 
sons, carpenters,  joiners,  dealers  itl  goods  of  various  kinds,  and 
also  a  goodly  number  of  very  thriving  farmers.  They  have  also 
several  hotels,  kept  by  colored  men,  a  representative  in  the  vil- 
lage council,  who  acquits  himself  fully  as  well  as  did  the  Honor- 
able M'Keller,  and  one  village  constable,  or  detective.  The 
crimes  of  which  they  are  guilty  are  very  few,  and  seldom  amount 
to  more  than  the  larceny  of  a  chicken,  when  compelled  to  do  so 
by  the  imperative  cravings  of  hunger.  One  poor  colored  woman, 
who  had  half  a  dozen  children,  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  at 
the  instance  of  a  white  farmer,  because,  having  raised  corn  on 
his  farm  on  shares,  she  took  a  few  ears  to  feed  her  children  with 
before  the  crop  had  ripened.  She  lay  in  jail  nearly  all  winter, 
and  was  discharged  by  Judge  Wells  at  ihd  next  session  of  the 
court — there  being  no  larceny  in  the  case,  and  proof  being  pro- 
duced that  she  had  been  falsely  sworn  against.  The  reader  may 
judge  what  became  of  her  children  during  a  cold  winter  in  Ca- 
nada. One  little  boy  came  to  see  his  mother  in  jail,  but  '^  Gram- 
pus "  would  not  admit  him ;  and  he  had  to  be  satisfied  with  look- 
ing through  two  sets  of  iron  bars  and  a  glass  sash,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  screwed  down,  but  the  screws  had  been  cut  out. 
This  was  all  the  poor  boy  could  see  of  his  mother,  although  he 
had  walked  ten  miles  for  the  purpose,  in  the  depth  of  winter. 
I  am  satisfied  that  the  colored  people  of  Chatham  and  its  vicinity 
would  be  very  happy  if  they  were  but  let  alone. 

CRUELTY  OF   "  GRAMPUS  "   TO  A  POOR  FRENCHMAN.  ,         , , 

A  poor  Frenchman,  subject  to  fits,  being  sentenced  for  some 
offence  to  three  months'  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  in  Chatham 
jail,  was  compelled  to  saw  wood  every  day  in  the  yard  of  the 
jail,  and  while  performing  his  allotted  task  frequently  fell  on  the 
ground  in  a  fit.  When  about  to  be  discharged,  he  requested  per- 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


133 


mission  to  ask  me  for  fifty  cents,  to  pay  his  passage  on  the  boat 
to  Detroit,  where  he  had  friends  and  countrymen  (I  having  fre- 
quently aided  persons  in  extreme  distress),  but  was  harshly  re- 
fused. The  jailor  also  refused  to  give  the  poor  fellow  a  single 
cent,  although  he  had  labored  assiduously  for  the  county  when 
sick  and  half  starved ;  but  finally,  he  was  given  half  a  loaf  of 
the  ^'gutta-percha''  bread,  and  turned  out  of  the  prison,  to  walk 
along  the  railroad  track  to  his  friends  in  Detroit.  He  had  not 
proceeded  far,  when,  overcome  by  weakness  and  the  change  of 
air,  he  fell  down  on  the  track  in  a  fit,  and  there  lay  until  an  ex- 
press train  relieved  him  of  his  misery  in  this  world  by  givinjg 
him  a  passport  to  Mj^er,  ta^^f  1  hope,  a  much  better  one. 


mi- 


GRATITUDE. 


A  young  Englialiman,  thirty  years  of  age,  was  for  seven  or 
eight  months  an  inmate  of  Chatham  jail — a  part  of  the  time  for 
a  crime  which  had  been  falsely  charged  on  him,  and  during  four 
months  for  debt,  because  he  lacked  the  possession  of  $5,  without 
which  he  could  procure  no  application  to  be  made  to  the  judge 
for  his  discharge.  When  I  learned  that  he  had  been  so  long  in 
prison,  and  that  his  brother  Englishmen  would  not  lend  him  the 
money  until  such  time  as  he  could  repay  it  from  his  earnings  as 
a  machinist,  I  at  once  handed  him  the  $5,  mentally  resolving  to 
reduce  my  allowance  from  16§  cents  per  day  down  to  12^  cents, 
rather  than  allow  this  poor  man,  who  was  a  widower,  with  two  or 
three  children,  one  of  them  totally  blind,  to  remain  any  longer 
in  prison.  In  fourteen  days  after  he  received  the  money,  he  was 
set  at  liberty ;  whereupon  he  thanked  me  a  thousand  times  for 
my  kindness,  said  that  he  had  heard  much  talk  of  Yankee  cha- 
rity, but  had  not  experienced  it  before,  as  he  had  never  been  in 
the  States,  and  told  me  that  he  would  at  once  proceed  to  Detroit, 
get  employment,  and  remit  to  me  the  first  $5  he  earned.  As  yet 
I  have  not  seen  the  money,  although  he  wrote  to  me,  describing 
12 


134 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


■  !{il 


} 


i.P 


w 


h 


l!':< 


I  i< 


the  joy  evinced  by  his  children  on  his  restoration  to  them,  more 
especially  that  of  the  blind  one,  and  informing  me  that  he  had 
obtained  a  situation  which  paid  him  a  salary  of  fourteen  shillings 
per  day.  He  has  probably  put  out  iike  $5  at  interest,  and  in- 
tends it  to  be  of  service  to  me  when  I  grow  old.  It  occurred  to 
me  that  want  of  faith  in  the  integrity  of  their  countryman  was 
the  reason  why  his  English  friends  did  not  assist  him.  I  would, 
however,  do  the  same  thing  again  for  another  poor  suffering 
wretch. 

DIVISION   COURT,   CASE  NO.  10.  — 1859. 

This  is  the  last  case  I  will  here  ttdtioe  ill  |^  exposition  of  the 
iniquities  of  this  tribunal;  postponing  ^  others  to  a  future 
edition,  which  will  probably  be  issued  i3^^i|i#  adjournment  of 
Parliament  this  coming  winter.  WsniWfijp^,  precludes  the 
publication  of  a  large  amount  of  matter  which  I  had  hoped  to 
include  in  this  work ;  but,  as  it  has  already  greatly  exceeded  the 
limits  first  assigned  it,  the  excluded  matter  must  necessarily  lie 
over  to  the  next  edition,  in  which  full  and  complete  details  will 
be  given  of  cases  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  of  the  inhumanity 
of  officials,  the  rascality  of  lawyers,  and  malpractices  of  judges, 
copiously  illustrated  with  handsome  engravings  on  wood.  I  shall 
be  thankful  to  my  numerous  friends  throughout  Canada  for  all 
information  necessary  to  further  my  purpose. 

No.  10  was  the  case  of  a  farmer  who  was  prosecuted  for  a 
tavern  bill  amounting  to  £1  17s  Qd,  on  which  costs  accrued  to 
the  enormous  sum  of  £11  4s  4<^  — total,  £13  Is  10fZ  =  $52-36. 
The  debtor  had  a  wife  and  children,  and  was  conveyed  to  a  jail 
thirty-three  miles  distant  from  his  home.  The  bill  of  costs  was 
accumulated  by  repeated  prosecutions,  and  finally,  in  this  court, 
the  poor  man  was  sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  ten  days. 
As  farmers  rarely  make  a  bill  at  a  tavern,  I  think  it  more  than 
probable  that  it  was  accumulated  by  the  practice  prevalent 
among  landlords — viz.,  treating  themselves  at  the  customer's  ox- 


IN  THE  0ANADA8.       | 


135 


pense,  not  only  before  his  face,  but  also  behind  his  back;  as  did 
Joseph  Pritchard,  the  proprietor  of  the  Royal  Exchange  Hotel, 
Chatham.  -.^.^ 


PROPERTY  EXEMPT  FROM  EXECUTION  IN  WISCONSIN. 

According  to  promise,  I  here  append  a  schedule  of  property 
exempt  from  63^outii|n  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  The  lawyer 
to  whom  I  wro#for  it  did  not  first  require  £10,  but  immediately 
forwarded  it  tatny  i4*fe8S,  |||th<i||,a  hint  at  payment;  where- 
upon I  prof^y  xiintte^^^tt  a  mm  sufficient  to  compensate 
him  for,#ie  prejMJJjft^Mfc  ft  document. 


u 


homesteadli. 

forty  acres, 

house  thereon  andit||i 

thereof,  and  not  inol 


uer  s  ox- 


pf  the  Statutes  of  1858.  —  A 
iMf&tity  of  land  not  exceeding 
purposes,  and  the  dwelling- 
tenances,  to  be  selected  by  the  owner 
Hn  any  town  plot,  or  city,  or  village; 
or  instead  thereof,  at  the  option  of  the  owner,  a  quantity  of  land, 
not  exceeding  in  amount  one-fourth  of  an  acre,  being  within  a 
recorded  town  plot,  or  city,  or  village,  and  the  dwelling-house 
thereon,  and  its  appurtenances,  owned  and  occupied  by  any  resi- 
dent of  the  State,  shall  not  be  subject  to  forced  sale  on  execution, 
or  any  other  final  process  from  a  court,  for  any  other  debt  or  lia- 
bility contracted  after  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine." 

('Section  34.  —  1st.  The  family  Bible.  ^  . .;  ii  s?i 

"  2d.  Family  pictures  or  school-books. 

"  od.  The  library  of  the  debtor ;  but  this  provision  shall  not 
be  deemed  to  extend  to  circulating  libraries. 

"  4:th.  A  seat  or  pew  in  any  house  or  place  of  public  worship. 
"  bth.  The  right  of  burial  of  the  dead. 
"  Qth.  All  wearing  apparel  of  the  debtor  and  his  family ;  all 
beds,  bedsteads,  and  bedding  kept  and  used  for  the  debtor  and 


186 


IMPRISONMENT  FOll  DEBT 


V    'I!'; 


*'il! 


his  family ;  all  stoves  and  appendages  put  up  or  kept  for  the  use 
of  the  debtor  and  his  family;  all  cooking  utensils,  and  all  other 
household  furniture,  not  herein  enumerated,  not  cxceedinfr  two 
hundred  dollars  in  value. 

"  7^^.  Two  cows,  ten  swine,  one  yoke  of  oxen,  and  one  horse; 
or,  in  lieu  of  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  horse,  a  span  of  horses ; 
ten  sheep,  and  the  wool  from  the  same,  either  in  the  raw  mate- 
rial, or  manu&ctured  into  yarn  or  doth;  j^e  necessary  food  for 
all  the  stock  mentioned  in  this  seeddn  for  on^ear's  support, 
either  provided  or  growing,^0  1|||^^  as^ftdeMlor  may  choose; 
also  one  wagon,  cart,  or  dragr,  6n^^yg]i>  oie  plo^b)  one  drag, 
and  other  farming  utnnniln^mnl^BB^tfM^'^'^^^T^i  ^^^  ^"t 
ceeding  fifty  dollars  in  value.  ?i^^fe/    $#     1 

*'  Sth.  The  provisions  for  the  0Ml^^^mF0i^^f0bQeasviTy 
for  one  year's  support,  eithq||||^^|i^P^p|p|^/i^^  and 

fuel  necessary  for  one  year.         ^  ;^  ^     *   IpF  i 

"  9th.  The  tools  and  implements,  0^1(^11  in  trade,  of  any 
mechanic,  miner,  or  other  person,  used^'idi'  kept  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  on  his  trade  or  business,  not  exceeding  two  hundred 
dollars  in  value ;  the  library  and  implements  of  any  professional 
man,  not  exceeding  two  hundred  dollars  in  value ;  all  of  which 
articles  hereinbefore  intended  to  be  exempt  shall  be  chosen  by 
the  debtor,  his  agent,  servant,  clerk,  or  legal  representatives,  as 
the  case  may  be. 

"  10th.  All  moneys  arising  from  insurance  of  any  property 
exempted  from  sale  on  execution,  when  such  property  has  been 
destroyed  by  fire." 


ten  ' 


^-f   Vii 


CONCLUSION  —  HOW  I  OBTAINED  MY  DISCHARGE. 


.i  In  September,  1858,  when  the  amendments  to  the  law  for  im- 
prisoning debtors  went  into  effect,  I  gave  my  persecutors  the  re- 
quired ten  days*  notice  of  my  intended  application  for  a  dis- 
charge.    They   decided  upon   verbal   interrogatories  (the   law 


IN   THE  OANADAS. 


187 


leaving  it  optional  with  the  creditors  to  interrogate  the  debtor 
verbally  or  by  writing),  and  my  examination  lasted  four  days  •— > 
the  entire  evidence  being  committed  to  paper,  and  forming  a 
bulky  volume,  of  somewhat  biblical  proportions.  With  the  aid 
of  a  few  memoranda,  I  clearly  accounted  for  all  the  cash  which 
passed  through  my  ha^di  during  the  summer  of  1857  (some 
$35,000  in  an^^an^  %ioepjkiigl|lio,  which  I  fell  short;  explain- 
ing from  wM^M|i|pdi  the  Various  sums,  and  the  manner  in 

fTMs  |#i  leather  a  disappointment, 
hidden  a  large  amount  of 


which  th|^ 
OS  if  ms 
money,  wM 
their  haliiil  obf^ 
valii6  tJk'^m 
of  i^  I 
resideioe, 
ness;  but  iii^iij 
ors  weito  not 
dation  with^  me. 


very  anxious  to  lay 
iis  to  my  property,  its 
ithe  disposition  I  had  made 
e :|>artie8y  and  their  places  of 
|t  in  discharge  of  indebted- 
of  my  arresting  credit- 
g  iKOUsed  to  make  any  accomo- 
of  iay  opposing  creditors,  on 
hearing  my  answe^Bl  to  tlrile  interrogatories,  cast  upon  me  one  of 
his  malicious  and  revengeful  scowls,  indicative  of  disappointment 
in  being  beaten  at  his  own  game,  and  of  chagrin  at  his  own  ob- 
tuseness,  which  led  him  to  counsel  his  clients  not  to  accept  my 
offers  of  security  at  a  time  when  a  settlement  could  readily 
have  been  arranged.  M'Crea,  being  unwilling  to  give  up  the 
matter  until  he  had  discovered  the  hoard  of  money  which  his 
folly  led  him  to  suppose  I  possessed,  plied  me  with  innumerable 
questions,  totally  irrelevant  to  the  case,  and  frequently  repeated 
the  same  inquiry  several  different  times ;  his  anxiety  being  some- 
what heightened  by  a  desire  to  increase  his  own  profits.  After 
this  pettifogging  attorney  had  exhausted  his  limited  knowledge 
and  talent  without  effecting  the  object  at  which  he  aimed,  sup- 
posing that  I  was  likely  to  procure  my  discharge,  he  resorted  to 
the  lowest  and  most  degrading  means  to  defeat  me :  viz.,  swear- 
ing his  own  case  through,  as  the  lawyers  term  it;  which  no  man 
12* 


i 


1 


ili 


H  ill 


|i 


hi ,    [j 


r 

I; 


i-i     !; 


ta    IS!'. 


■X\ 


II 


188 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


of  any  character,  or  who  has  the  slightest  respect  for  himself, 
will  stoop  to  do.  Hid  evidence  was,  however,  rebutted  by  that 
of  the  clerk  of  the  court,  the  deputy  sheriff,  and  the  turnkey  of 
the  jail,  who  had  been  present  at  m-j  examination,  and  heard  all 
that  passed ;  thus  indirectly  informing  the  public  that  M'Crea 
had  sworn  falsely  —  t^hich  I  here  do  (|{||My|y,  and  challenge  con- 
tradiction from  any  quarter.  j||ikOig^  l^i^^ed  in  his  ob- 
ject, I  was  still  detained  in  iiiimiii  i»n1  ilillgiiijiihiiiliiiiiii  were 
made  to  my  liberation.  ,  Xlr|Jtiilj(e  vfm^^.hmd  nq^case  at 
Toronto  was  called  elgewh 
by  a  stranger,  before  wli^H 
representing  me  as  a  dill^ilndpl 
a  high-handed  attempt  ftl  tobbei 
durance  until  he  leiteiied  aB 
ronto  was  about  200  miles 
gined  that  information  wasjmi 
as  the  attention  of  the  oowt  was 
a  press  of  other  business  of  the  son^  e^paoter. 

I  have  been  informed  that  on  one  Qocasioilly  the  judge  in  To- 
ronto, and  M' Creaks  agents  there,  gave  M'Crea  a  severe  repri- 
mand for  refusing  to  receive  good  security  for  the  claims  in  his 
hands;  saying  that  more  could  not  be  expected  of  a  business 
man  during  such  a  season  of  depression  as  that  which  occurred 
in  1857-8.  However,  as  I  was  an  American,  the  judge  delayed 
my  discharge,  with  the  expectation  that  some  of  my  business 
connections  would  settle  the  dishonest  claims  against  me,  and  the 
enormous  bill  of  costs  which  had  accrued  thereon.  But  they 
did  not  succeed ;  as,  acting  upon  the  old  maxim,  that  '^  Brag  is 
a  good  dog,  but  Holdfast  is  a  better  one,"  I  determined  to  die  in 
prison  rather  than  ask  friends  to  aid  me  in  paying  unjust  claims 
at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings.  ;.....   .^ 

Early  in  February,  1859,  my  case  came  up  before  Judge 
Richards,  who  was  then  on  the  Western  Spring  Circuit,  and  he 
intimated  that  I  might  possibly  obtain  my  discharge  by  assign- 


iM£ 


s\j|>piied 

Its  was  laid, 

r^igaged  in 

infill 

i«i,a«To- 

a^b^ima- 

piiore  especially 

at  all  times  by 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


189 


ing  certain  old  debts,  and  other  yaluelesu  trash,  which  the  attor- 
ney of  my  opponents  thought  might  possibly  bo  realized  at  some 
future  period ;  but  I  was  required  to  furnish  names,  amounts, 
and  the  probable  residence  of  all  the  parties ;  my  persecutors 
knowing  full  well  that  ^Aoiith's  time  would  be  consumed  in 
writing  to  othttEf  |||!iiiiliil||^l^  for  me.    On  a  pre- 

jpV  %uilar  statement  .pled 
o£kw  result  than  to  keep  me 
.|pigment  cannot  be 
^lifiilld  delay  granting  a 
set  of  unprinci- 
pMered  them.  By 
^%a|ijlfras  required  of 
ipy'Kcharge  until  he 
^drpoit,  and  where  he 
cif  April.  I  was  com- 
*8t«^^,  and  so  weak  from 
^ered  as  I  walked, 
to  await  hU^pkil£i(d^  l^ioli  1  did'V^dut  complaining,  or  allow- 
ing my  troubles  to  be  known.  At  the  appointed  time  the  judge 
opened  his  court,  and  on  the  second  week  of  the  session  a  hear- 
ing of  my  case  was  had  —  Charles  R.  Atkinson,  my  attorney,  be- 
ing opposed  by  the  notorious  M'Crea.  Even  at  this  late  stage 
of  the  proceedings,  false  affidavits  were  oflFered,  to  defeat  me,  by 
the  Marshes  and  others;  but  the  judge  decided  that  it  was  too 
late  to  notice  any  more  affidavits,  and  intimated  that  he  thought 
my  imprisonment  had  become  a  persecution.  Notwithstanding 
his  expressed  opinion,  he  refused  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
my  discharge ;  remarking  that,  as  mine  was  a  case  of  some  mag- 
nitude, which  had  given  rise  to  considerable  feeling,  and  as  I 
had  been  so  long  in  prison,  he  would,  although  he  could  see  no 
reason  for  longer  detaining  me,  defer  a  decision  until  the  com- 
pletion of  his  circuit,  and  his  return  to  Toronto ;  when  he  would, 
with  the  assistance  of  an  associate  judge,  give  my  case  a  calm 
consideration,  and  make  a  final  decision 


140 


IMPRISONMENT  FOR  DEBT 


l.ffin 


4 


'  i!! 


The  want  of  proper  feeling  for  human  suffering  which  this 
announcement  evinced,  the  coolness  with  which  this  man  con* 
signed  me  back  to  my  tormentors  for  another  term,  did  not 
merely  surprise,  but  really  astounded  me  —  I  was  totally  unpre- 
pared for  an  act  so  heartless,  ema]||AliOj|  from  a  man  occupying 
such  a  high  position.  Meek  9u)i||i^l^^i^^  alternative, 
and  I  yielded  to  my  fate  ^^i#i|p^|j^^  After  the 

judge  left  Chatham,  ■  h» 'heWMJI^i^ll^^^^  icourt  in 

different  places,  eacli;'.  9iS(i00j^0l^^tSj§^  ho 

arrived  in  Toronto,  .l(i^|||^f|Hm|^^  of 

my  case  for  two  irt|jpf^l|ij^^  he 

granted  my  ^i^oW^S^'^lfft^lftSK^^  ^7> 


1  irould 

to  between 
tbtonbi^ilibllfriiBMU^:  The  bill 


1859,  seven  weeli  ffmil 

Toward  the  cUb^M 
that  he  would  ace^pt^;^ 
claim,  at  a  discount  iof 
pay  all  the  costs,  ^o 
bill  of  costs  on  all  the^ 
$2500  and  $3000,  and  1 1 
of  my  own  attorney  also  amounted  to  9864.  I  did  not  consider 
myself  in  any  way  bound  to  do  anything  for  M'Intyre,  because, 
by  his  refusal  to  take  security  he  had  driven  me  into  paying  the 
claims  of  those  creditors  who  had  not  persecuted  me,  which  ab- 
sorbed all  my  property,  and  left  nothing-  for  the  use  of  the  par- 
ties who  had  been  the  originators  of  my  ruin.  While  in  durance, 
my  postage  bill  amounted  to  $114-01.  I  wrote  1128  letters,  and 
received  answers  to  more  than  three-fourths  of  that  number. 
Many  persons  paid  the  postage  of  their  letters  to  me ;  but  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  the  burden  of  the  postage  both  ways  fell  on 
myself  ■     •     !■    i 

After  my  liberation  from  tbe  filthy  prison,  on  emerging  into 
the  open  air,  1  reeled  like  a  drunken  man,  and  surrounding  ob- 
jects appeared  to  be  completely  changed.  I  determined  not  to 
do  like  the  Frenchman,  and  travel  on  the  railroad  track,  though 


IN  THE  OANADAS. 


141 


1  had  but  little  more  money  to  bear  my  expenses — ^my  funds,  all 
told,  amounting  to  but  ten  cents.  A  very  worthy  and  kind  man 
conveyed  mo  four  mU||i  <mt  into  the  country,  among  people  who 
would  not,  like  jhcp  ^  flhtj^Wi  Utfu  a  poor  fellow-creature  out 

of  my  friend  Jona^an,Ii»^^k' off  lipm  my  feet  the  dust  of  an 
inhospitable  land,  ai^d  crSed  the  boundary  into  that  country 
which  is  ever  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed  and  a  home  for  the 
wanderer,  where  I  was  heartily  welcomed  by  many  persons  who 
had,  in  my  dire  necessity,  been  friends  indeed.  These  dear  and 
cherished  friends  supplied  me  with  means  at  once,  and  I  have 
never  since  been  without  money  at  command.  In  the  United 
States  it  is  not,  as  in  Canada,  ''  once  down,  always  down ;"  but 
the  men  with  whom  I  had  formerly  traded  immediately  informed 
me  that  my  name  and  "  valor  "  were  ample  security  for  any  goods 
or  accommodations  which  I  needed  whenever  I  again  wished  to 
resume  my  position  in  the  business  community.  All  my  wants 
have  been  carefully  supplied,  and  my  demands  promptly  com- 
plied with,  by  these  good  Samaritans,  to  whom  I  here  desire  to 
tender  my  heartfelt  thanks ;  hoping  that,  as  they  have  dealt  by 


142 


IMH11U0NM£NT   VOK  UKUT 


*^ 


i 


me,  may  not  only  others  dcul  by  thoiu  in  this  world,  but  also  the 
Gruoious  Father  of  All  in  that  other  world,  whcro  ''  thu  wickud 
oeaso  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest." 

iieforo  finally  taking  lesve  of  lily  f^erii  I  desire  to  cull  at- 
tention to  an  extract  fhmi  %l«|iti^fM||||nvloth6  editor  of  the 

ntleman,  who 


Democrat  and  Amer, 
was  then  makio9^^  toii;£;«ol 
many  other  matttx%  kf, 
the  people:  :   , 

"TheProYilpiOfttllirp 
orisis.     BusiBiB8||vi06a4ll|.?< 
to  the  wall, 
sands.     ToppMpiir 
contemplating <iliii  |ki 
see  no  prospeot  ftf^k^ 
differ  more  widftly'^lMUl 
rosity  shown  the  brok«||-^li| 
always  down."     The  ^*}fi0W 


ipetking  of 
t»of 

oial 

•<  gone 

«f  thou- 

while 

ii|ei%and 
III  OaMdn 

little  genc- 
"  Onoe  dbwn, 
gWe  no  relief.     Their 
austere  demeanor  to  thi  piidlaKi /' 111  hf^^^  titnid  of  the 

propriety  of  pulling  up  stdciBS  and  IfAViiig  the  Queen's  dominion 
between  the  light  of  two  days.  Slr^^ks  have  driven  thousands 
of  unfortunate  Canadians  from  their  native  shores  to  seek  new 
homes  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  States.  Inhuman  creditors 
have  controlled  the  Legisiucure,  and  have  prevented  laws  from 
being  passed  that  would  restrain  bailiffs  and  sheriffs  from  taking 
the  bed  from  under  the  poor  debtor,  and  leaving  his  wife  and 
children  without  chair  or  roof.  Traders  in  Canada  have  been 
hounded  by  law  to  such  an  extent,  that  iheir  families  have  suf- 
fered with  hunger,  their  names  have  been  blasted,  and  the  future 
to  them  has  been  made  a  waste,  merely  because  they  htid, 
through  misfortune,  lost  their  all.  Canada,  in  sho^<^^,  is  without 
a  bankrupt  law,  and  the  industry  and  trade  of  that  country  must 
necessarily  suffer  in  consequence." 


I 


IN   TIIR  OANADAS. 


148 


lut  ulsu  the 
thu  wickud 

)  to  cull  lit- 
liter  of  tlio 
lamati,  who 
ipeaking  of 
^piotaof 

ll^ftnoial 

attM  thou- 
yk«tk  while 

rln  Caatda 
'  little  genc- 
Onoe  ^wn, 

lief.  Their 
imid  of  tlio 
's  dominion 
n  thousands 
bo  seek  new 
m  creditors 
I  laws  from 
from  taking 
lis  wife  and 
have  been 
5S  have  suf- 
1  the  future 
they  had, 
is  without 
ountry  must 


< 


'I'  „ 

If 

ill 
III 


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T.  Prig&i  Utehra,  when  th«  "mty- 
_  water"  wu  pNpnrad. 

0.  Wtj,  ftdog B.Brown's  room. 

H.  Paatiy  bdooging  to  the  JaB^g 
iionMhoUL 

1.  Boct-raiinaQfjaUor'aflunlly.  . 


K.  PariOToTjaUort  ^jt  Uy.  * 

Z*.  Jail  windows. 

M.  Soon  of  •ntnrnea  to  tknlldinc. 
«.  Dooif  of  entrance  to  halle. 

^£/^"*°*  *°**  diflteent  roona, 
Iha itairwajranning  ftom  0  to  SI  tfa. 
cenda  to  tbe  eonrt«ioai  •to««, 


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